The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing major disruptions to what’s usually a big weekend of celebration for thousands of Calgarians.
But they’re carrying on as best they can with their salute to a stellar Scotsman.
The Calgary Burns Club had been planning its traditional Burns Night celebration on Friday, Jan. 21, to commemorate the birthday of the 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns.
The gathering would have featured bagpipers, highland dancers and the traditional address to the haggis.
It would have been the first chance for an in-person version of the event since January 2020, and the 400 tickets to the celebration in a hotel ballroom sold out quickly.
“But unfortunately, due to the pandemic and the rise in the numbers, we had to cancel it. We had no choice,” Calgary Burns Club member Henry Cairney said.
“It’s really disappointing.”
The cancellation also led to disappointment at The Scottish Shoppe in northwest Calgary, which rents out kilts for Burns Night.
The store’s rentals are down 75 per cent from a normal year.
“Because there’ve been so many events cancelled,” store owner Jim Osborne said. “But we still are renting out quite a few for house parties.”
Calgary Burns Club will be connecting people virtually with a scaled-down commemoration of Burns’ birthday, hoping to return to the traditional in-person celebration in 2023.
Comments