A GLOBAL audience is set to tune into the country’s largest contemporary Burns celebration, which will be hosted by comedian Janey Godley.

Interest in the Big Burns Supper is being registered across the world, particularly in the US and Canada, according to executive producer Graham Main.

Despite having to ditch plans for a 10th anniversary celebration at the festival’s Dumfries and Galloway base, the alternative free online event next Monday night is on course to reach a wider audience.

It’s a silver lining to the coronavirus cloud that has forced the changes, believes Main. He said the online event will help reinforce the twin aims of the festival which are to make Dumfries and Galloway better known and also turn Burns Night into a bigger celebration in Scotland.

“We’ve had a great response and I think we are going to get a bigger audience globally then ever. We’ve even got people in the States asking where they can get haggis,” said Main.

“It’s great because there are two things we have always wanted; one is for people to check out Dumfries because it flies under the radar far too often, and the second is that Burns Night needs to be bigger than it is. Burns Night is Scotland’s calling card to the world, really, and I believe we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of it.

“Journalists cover it across the globe and different countries engage with it and the fact that it is just daft and a bit crazy makes it all the more intriguing. There are always views about Robert Burns but, when you dig deep, Burns Night is about friendship and warmth and about bringing people together and celebrating Scottishness. That’s good and makes us feel confident. It’s one of those lovely levellers and so ridiculously daft it is impossible not to like it.

“The funny thing is that Burns Night seems to mean more to people outside Scotland then it sometimes does inside. It’s fascinating that when we are away we think it is hugely important to us.”

Main added that the night also offers an opportunity for the economy of rural areas as it could be celebrated easily outwith the cities.

However, while the show is still going on with a line-up that includes KT Tunstall, Donovan, Tide Lines, Skerryvore and Dougie MacLean, the festival will miss out on up to £400,000 that would normally be raised through ticket, trading and bar sales over the usual nine days of the event.

The challenges of producing it have been taxing too, with the goalposts changing constantly on what would be allowed. Although the organisers realised in August last year that a physical event would probably not be possible, they had hoped to involve pupils in projects across Scotland this month. But those plans had to be ditched when schools remained closed after New Year.

The biggest casualty, however, has been the fact that they have not been able to involve as many members of the community as normal, according to Main. To make up for that in some way the decision was made to make the event free.

“As a result of the work we do during the year with the community we understand the value of making it accessible,” said Main. “People are having a really hard time just now so we want to do what we can to make them feel better.

“It is going to be a lockdown Burns night but so what if people have a couple of jars on a Monday night this year, if we can get a bit of banter and connect to other people.”

Janey Godley’s Big Burns Supper 2021 will be broadcast from 7pm to 8.15pm on January 25 via Facebook and YouTube.