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2024 Robert Burns Night Supper
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2024 Robert Burns Night Supper
Thursday January 25, 2024 - 5:50 - 9:15pm
Biltmore DoubleTree Hotel, Asheville, NC

All proceeds from Burns Night will support Asheville Sister Cities, Inc., a 501c3 organization. Past Burns Nights have made possible contributions to the Burns Cottage Restoration, Niel Gow Memorial, Birnam Arts, and the Dunkeld Community Archive.

Don’t miss this opportunity to become an Asheville Sister Cities member and receive a discount on admission!

First time guests, who are not ASCI member, will receive a free one year membership in Asheville Sister Cities and be eligible for discounted membership admission.   

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Complete list of volunteer and promotional opportunities
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Program Details

RECEPTION 5:30 - 6:45 pm

Piper EJ Jones will welcome guests at the DoubleTree East Hotel Entrance.  Guests are greeted at the Reception Desk and receive name tags and printed programs.  Coat rack is available.  Fiddler Finn Magill will be performing during the reception.  

Scotland Co-host NPR’s Fiona Ritchie

photo by Roy Summers – Scottish Field

The 32 year host of National Public Radio’s premiere Celtic music program, The Thistle and Shamrock will join us live from Dunkeld and Birnam.  Fiona will be introducing performances from our friends in Scotland as well as providing her own surprises.  Fiona is the winner of six World Medals from the New York Festivals International Competition for Radio Programming, the Flora MacDonald Award and honorary doctorate from St. Andrews University (NC), 2003 honors from the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage , appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), inducted in the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame and Folk DJ Hall of Fame.  Fiona serves on the Advisory Board of the Swannanoa Gathering folk arts workshops at Warren Wilson College.  Along with our own Doug Orr, Fiona is co-author of  Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia which is recipient of the esteemed Thomas Wolfe Award and UNC Press’ best selling book in 100 years.

Piper EJ Jones

photo by Jay Ford
EJ Jones is a classically trained piper on the Great Highland Bagpipes, and has spent his life studying the pipe music of Scotland. He is ranked “Professional” by the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association, and many regard him as the foremost Scottish Highland Piper in this part of the country. He is a member of the Grandfather Mountain Highlanders Pipe Band, and serves as Music Director at the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in Linville each July. He also is the long-time piper for the annual Swannanoa Solstice at the Wortham Performing Arts Center.
 
 

Fiddler Andrew Finn Magill

photo by Anna Colliton Visuals

We are excited to announce that Andrew Finn Magill, who is the Coordinator of the Swannanoa Gathering Fiddle Week, will be providing live fiddle music for Burns Night.  Finn performed at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts Mainstage Concert Series on October 27, 2023. He has been featured on PBS, NPR, TEDx and MTV-U. Finn is a Fulbright fellow, North Carolina Arts Council fellow, and South Arts Emerging Traditional Artist.  His music is influenced by Irish, old-time, bluegrass, Malawian, and Brazilian choro music.  Having this renowned fiddle virtuoso will be a real treat for Burns Night.

Dancers from the Carpenter Academy of Irish Dance in Asheville will perform soft and hard shoe dance during the closing ceremony.  The Carpenter Academy of Irish Dance was established in 2018, by Amanda Carpenter TCRG, and has locations in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Dancers in the school compete regionally, nationally and at the World Championship level, as well as perform many shows throughout the year, but especially during the month of March. The Asheville location is run by Heather Gallagher, who has been teaching Irish dance for the last 25 years.

Photo by Michael Oppenheim

Pioneering local craft brewer, Oscar Wong, of Highland Brewing, will conduct a Guided Scotch Whisky Tasting with a quick background on the five recognized whisky regions of Scotland followed by a sample from four of the regions. Tasting notes on each take you on a journey that will whet your appetite for the wide range of Scotch whisky flavors. The cost for this optional tasting is $50 and tickets available below are limited to 30 participants and are sure to sell out.

For the first time this year, a 45 minute Robert Burns Poetry and Song Seminar available to all guests is being added to the program and will begin in the Vanderbilt Room at 5:45 pm. Please indicate your interest in attending when purchasing tickets. The seminar will reflect on Burns’ work to offer a deeper appreciation of the Bard, and will begin with “Address to a Haggis” to provide a better understanding of this essential part of Burns Night traditions. If there are any of Burns’ work you may wish to present or discuss, please contact us here.

Twelve Royal Dunkeld School student paintings are being matted by painting artist Darcy Orr and will displayed for sale at Burns Night, with proceeds going to the Royal Dunkeld School.  Place your bid in this silent auction near the dinning room entrance.

Warm Scottish appetizers will be served during the reception.

 

Near Reception Desk: from St. Andrews Square in Waynesville, NC: 

Mini Haggis Pockets

Bite Sausage Rolls

Scottish Smoked Salmon Tartlets

 

Near Whisky Tasting: from Celtic Monkey in Marshall, NC:

Veggie Haggis Bridies

Scotch Eggs

 

A cash or credit card full bar service will be available during the reception and dinner.  

Tickets for glasses of wine during dinner may be purchased. 

OPENING CEREMONY 6:45 - 7:00pm

Henchmen invite guests to stand by their assigned seats until the Haggis is toasted.

Piper leads the Procession to “Scotland the Brave”

Cary Findlay, Event Director and Master of Ceremonies, will welcome the guest and introduce our Scotland co-host, Fiona Ritchie.

Reverend Fraser Penny, of Dunkeld Cathedral, will give the Selkirk Grace from Scotland.

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

Haggis from

Piper, Chef, Haggis Bearers, and Henchmen fetch the Haggis, Neeps and Tatties [to the Piper playing the tune “A Man’s, A Man for A’ That”, a song Burns wrote in 1795 and is famous for its expression of egalitarian ideas of society and that a man’s value is his character and honesty, not his wealth or social class.]

Rear Henchman addresses the Haggis

Bards leads the toast to the Haggis:

“To the haggis, To the haggis, To the haggis!”

DINNER SERVICE 7:00 - 8:45 pm

Each Guest will receive 4 wee drams (1/2 ounce) of single malt Scotch whisky to toast the haggis. 

Onion Soup first course

Selection of three dishes for main course all served with Potato Gratin:

Herb crusted chicken breat with Alabama white BBQ sauce,

Pan seared salmon served with honey whole grain mustard glaze, or

Vegan meledy.

Flourless chocolate torte dessert course with shortbread fingers

Haggis will be displayed on each table from

Water, coffee, and tea will be available self-service at two locations in the Dining Room.

CLOSING CEREMONY 8:45 - 9:15 pm

Jessica Coffield, ASCI President, extends welcome, recognition, and thanks.

Winners of silent auction announced.  Auction items include:

2 Celtic Fest VIP Tickets

2 Cletic Fest VIP Tickets

Thanks to Mark Ferguson for donating Two Royal Passes to Asheville Celtic Fest (a $250 value); each includes premier seating, two buffet style meals, two drink tickets, full cash bar, convenient rest rooms. The Asheville Celtic Festival, a Winter Indoor/Outdoor Celtic Festival bringing the Celtic Spirit of the Seven Nations to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, will be held at the Davis Center at the WNC Agricultural Center February 17 & 18, 2024.

Robert Burns Sugar Bowl

Robert Burns Sugar Bowl

Thanks to Mickey Derr for donating this ceramic sugar bowl produced by McNay, C W & Sons Bridgeness Pottery, in Borrowstounness (Bo’ness), Scotland between 1887 and 1959.

Pete Clark Watercolors

Thanks to Pete Clark for painting and donating two original signed watercolors: ‘The Birnam Oak, Perthshire Pete A. Clark Nov. 2020’ and ‘Untitled [River Tay] Pete A. Clark June 2022′.  Besides fishing and painting, Pete is a master fiddle player and organizer of the Niel Gow Festival March 22nd-24th 2024.  Thanks to Tom Good for donating ‘The Birnam Oak’.

2 Tickets to Scotland

Thanks to John Forsyth for two round trip airfares, including usual and customary fees, on American Airlines in Main Cabin/Economy from Charlotte, NC to Edinburgh, UK.  Travel dates and details to be coordinated with donor.

Fiona Ritchie, Scotland Co-host, will give the Immortal Memory to Robert Burns.

Toasts, Poems, and other entertainment is presented.

Burns Night ends with all joining in Auld Lang Syne.

Venue - Biltmore DoubleTree Hotel