Scotland has set a new world record by joining together thousands of Burns Suppers worldwide to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and open the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.
Over 3,600 Burns Night suppers from over 80 different countries worldwide joined The World Famous Burns Supper celebration, a partnership with The Famous Grouse.
Some of the highlights so far have included The Homecoming Burns Supper held in the Brig O' Doon Hotel in Alloway on Saturday 24th January attended by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond MSP.
A party at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto thought they could claim this year's Highest Burns Supper only to be beaten by Scottish Mountaineer Chris Dunlop who tucked in to his haggis atop Ben Nevis. However, flying higher than both of these over the Alps was a 155 foot tall hot air balloon in the shape of a Scottish Piper courtesy of keen balloonist, Muir Moffat, who enjoyed his wee dram with fellow enthusiasts at the annual balloon festival in Chateau d'Oex in Switzerland.
The campaign has certainly inspired thousands to get involved. Marie Christie, Project Director for Homecoming Scotland said:
"Robert Burns is a man whose influence has extended far beyond the country in which he lived and his legacy is still alive and kicking today. We are delighted that the invite to share in the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations has motivated people throughout the world and they are joining with us to celebrate the significance of this very special year - the 250th anniversary of our nation's bard who is loved across the globe."
This is certainly true as suppers from Argentina to Azerbaijan, Melbourne to Moscow and Toronto to Tokyo were enjoyed in a fitting tribute to our inimitable Bard. Most of them, unsurprisingly, were held in Scotland, but a further 2,000 were held throughout the world.
Gerry O'Donnell, director, The Famous Grouse said: "This campaign has given us a great opportunity to bring everyone together to celebrate Scotland with a dram of The Famous Grouse. We're delighted to see that Burns's legacy is so far reaching and that so many people have signed up to our campaign. We were able to support some these events through the Limited edition bottle of whisky which they could auction off for charity. We are still adding up the total amount raised from the bottle auctions but we are fast approaching £20,000 and we still have some way to go."
The World Famous Burns Supper is a part of Homecoming Scotland; a series of more than 300 events throughout the year from the Burns Anniversary Weekend (23-25th January) until St Andrews Night (30th November) with the key themes being Burns himself, whisky, golf, great minds and innovations and our rich ancestry and culture.
We hope you'll get involved with even more events as the year goes on!
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