The local Scottish community will celebrate its roots Feb. 8 at the Airdrie Gaelic Society’s (AGS) sixth annual Robbie Burns Dinner at Apple Creek Golf Course, located in Rocky View County between Crossfield and Airdrie.
Robert Burns (Jan. 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796) is Scotland’s national poet, according to the BBC. His birthday is a national holiday in Scotland and Gaelic societies around the world hold a feast in his honour each year.
“Culturally, it’s a historic tradition,” said AGS treasurer Kevin Fraser. “After all, Robbie Burns was [from the 1700s]. Two hundred years later, it’s still something to celebrate, him being the national poet.”
AGS is the fundraising arm of the Airdrie Scots Pipes and Drums Band. The six-member band, formed in 2014, performs the bagpipes at the annual Robbie Burns Dinner, which acts as the group’s main fundraiser.
The band also plays at the Airdrie Food Bank’s Shamrock Shimmy charity fundraiser each March and in parades throughout Alberta during the summer.
The band will perform two sets at the Feb. 8 event, said Fraser, who is also the group’s pipe major.
“We’ll also have some soloist performers, so a few of us will be playing solos on the great highland bagpipes,” he said. “We also have one member who will play a Uillean pipe – a different form of bagpipe.”
Along with the live music, performers will include the Canadian Step Dancers, highland dancers and Scottish country dancers. In addition, some of Burns’ poetry will be recited.
No Robbie Burns Dinner would be complete without Celtic cuisine. Fraser said the feast will include the Scottish dish haggis – a traditional meal consisting of minced meats with oatmeal and spices cooked in a sheep’s stomach – as well as traditional accompaniment to haggis, neeps and tatties. The main course will be roast beef with au-jus and horseradish.
The dinner costs $65 per person, with a group discount when five or more are bought together. The deadline to purchase tickets is Feb. 1, and they can be purchased by calling 587-600-0022, emailing [email protected] or at airdriescots.ca
Fraser said 125 people attended the 2019 dinner, and as of Jan. 21, 80 tickets had already been sold for this year’s event.
“We’re hoping to match or even do better than last year,” he said.
Net proceeds of ticket sales will support the Airdrie Scots Pipes and Drums Band’s July trip to Vernon, B.C., according to Fraser, where it will participate in the Piping Hot Summer Drummer event.
“That’s a summer camp put on by Simon Fraser University’s pipe band,” he said. “It’s basically a summer camp for piping and drumming.
“We want to be able to provide partial scholarships to our members who are interested – and able to get the time off of work – in going to that camp.”
The Feb. 8 dinner runs from 3:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Fraser encouraged those who have never attended to come out, regardless of heritage.
“It’s great food, great entertainment, and even if you’re not Scottish, it’s something to do,” he said. “Go see a live performance of live music, live dancers.”
