The Ceilidh Club

Things To Do

Jason Allen 04/01/24


Burns Night in London 2024

Just when you thought holidays couldn’t get any better than St. George’s Day (right??), in strolls Burns Night and informs you that it basically requires you to drink whisky and dance.

For those unfamiliar, it’s an annual celebration of the life of Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland. You’ve probably just belted out a verse of his most famous poem, Auld Lang Syne, on New Year’s Eve. The man certainly enjoyed a good party, and traditionally a good Burns Night shindig involves whisky, haggis (which has a poem read to it), more whisky, bagpipes, kilts, sometimes a little dancing, and always a lot of merriment.

Here are the best places in London to celebrate the Ploughman Poet, from rip-roaring ceilidh dancing, to stirring bagpipe renditions, vast banquets, open whisky bars, rooftop parties, and more…

The Ceilidh Club

Ceilidh Club Burns Night London 2024

For the Ceilidh Club, Burns Night is all about ceilidh. Crazy, huh? And given that they generally try to pull out all the stops anyway, to make this most sacred evening all the better they’re basically flinging the stops across the room. There’ll be a live band, a caller, nearly three hours of dancing, an addressing of the haggis, and – surprise – some actual haggis (plus neeps & tatties).

Details: 19th, 20th, 25th-27th January | St. Mary’s Marylebone & Cecil Sharp House, Camden | £20-55

Burns Night at Carousel

Last time Tomás Gormley and Sam Yorke came down from Edinburgh to cook up a Burns Night feast at Carousel, their own restaurant Heron won a Michelin Star two months later. So maybe Tomás is hoping the spirit of Rab will bless them once again, because this year he’s returning to create a one-off menu inspired by his new sister restaurant, Skua, with dishes like hand-dived Orkney scallops with XO & roe; and turbot with dashi beurre blanc & sea herbs.

Details: 25th January | 19-23 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 1RL | Tickets on sale soon

Fiddle Paradiddle

fiddle paradiddle burns night

Fiddle Paradiddle – also known as ‘London’s wildest ceilidh band’ – will be talking you through the moves at this ceilidh in an atmospheric Balham church, as well as providing some ‘nu-folk’ to dance to as the night wears on. Not before, of course, you’ve had a Burns night feast with haggis, neeps, tatties, and some sort of whisky-based pud… They’re not animals.

Details: 26th January St Thomas’ Church, Telford Avenue, London, SW2 4XW £47.50

HIVERFEST Burns Night

The Hiver taproom will be swarming on Burns Night, when they’ll be cramming in a foot-stomping live band and a raucous ceilidh into their arch on the Bermondsey Beer Mile. There’ll be beers on tap and whisky flights to fuel the dancing, and you can also order in your own food – just don’t expect to find haggis on Deliveroo.

Details: 25th & 26th January Hiver, 56 Stanworth St, SE1 3NY £12

B&H Burns Night Extravaganza

There’s nothing quite as quintessentially English as celebrating another culture’s national day slightly more fervently than your own. You know, just so they don’t feel bad and such. Which explains why the fine chaps at Bourne & Hollingsworth are putting on the ultimate Burns Night in London, complete with a whisky tasting; a cocktail-paired, multi-course banquet; some rambunctious piping… aaand live music and ceilidh dancing.

Details: 25th & 26th January | Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings, 42 Northampton Road, EC1R 0HU | £45-95

Barge East

Barge East is a beautiful, 120-year old Dutch cargo vessel now moored in East London. And this Burns night, it’ll be shipping live music directly to your ears, and haggis, drams of whisky, and a six-course Scottish feast (featuring deep-fried Mars bars) directly to your mouth as part of an atmospheric evening of poetry.

Details: 24th-26th January Sweetwater Mooring, River Lee, White Post Lane, E9 5EN £55-59

Sam’s Riverside

Keeping things simple, Sam’s Riverside is putting on a classic Burns Night menu with some not-so classic modern upgrades, including Cullen Skink with brioche toast; Scottish trout fillets with whisky & caviar beurre blanc; and Haggis supper with neeps & tatties terrine. And of course, they haven’t’ forgotten the most important ingredient of the meal: a bagpiper.

Details: 25th January | 1 Crisp Rd, London W6 9DN | £65 (for three courses)

The Rhythm And Booze Project

Rhythm & Booze Burns Night 2019

Rhythm & Booze pretty much already sums up your typical Burns Night. But just to make theirs extra-special, this duo will be pairing their rousing live music with an open whisky bar. And a little poetry from the bard himself.

Details: 17th-19th January | Crol & Co, 77 Dunton Road, SE1 5TW | £65

Ardbeg x Acme Burns Night 2024

acme fire cult burns night

Acme Fire Cult is giving you Burns – grab a pew on their heated, blanketed Dalston terrace and you’ll get to enjoy a Scottish feast rustled up over the coals, paired cocktails & drams of Ardbeg whisky, haggis toasting, poetry readings, and a lot of dancing courtesy of guest DJ Pam Hogg.

Details: 25th January Acme Fire Cult, Abbot Street Courtyard, E8 3DP£100

The Nest Collective’s Burns Night Ceilidh

The Nest Collective’s Burns Night ceilidh takes place in one of the most dramatic venues in London – a neogothic church in Paddington with soaring arches and a huge vaulted roof. But with a little help from their live band, The Ceilidh Liberation Front, a slap-up haggis supper and a fully-stocked whisky bar, they’ll be going all out to raise that roof even higher…

Details: 26th January Grand Junction, St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Rowington Close, London, W2 5TF £18+

Galvin Bistrot & Bar

If you fancy celebrating a Scottish poet at a restaurant in England run by French brothers, this is where to do it: the Galvin brothers are laying on a traditional feast of haggis, neeps, tatties, cranachan and cullen skink, with live entertainment and plenty of whisky, too.

Details: 25th January | Galvin Bistrot & Bar, Spital Square, London E1 6DY | £70

Cockney Burns Night at The Pelican

pelican burns night 2024

The Pelican‘s second ever Burns Night supper is a fusion affair between Scotland and London – you’ll get to dine on a traditional three-course dinner paired with drams from the East London Liquor Co, before being treated to some Burns verses and some original Cockney poetry (which, we’re assuming, is going to go a little beyond the usual rhyming slang).

Details: 25th January | 45 All Saints Road, Notting Hill, W11 1HE | £75

Burns Night Barn Dance at the Round Chapel

cut a shine ceilidh burns night

The Cut A Shine team are old hands when it comes to ceilidhs – they run one in Clapton’s Round Chapel every month. But for one glorious night of the year, they throw a dedicated whisky bar and a haggis stall into the mix – and they’re so confident that this won’t affect your dancing abilities, they’ve even developed brand new dances…

Details: 26th January The Round Chapel, 1D Glenarm Road, London, E5 0LY | £15-25

The Sun Tavern

sun tavern burns night

The Sun Tavern mostly does booze, so their Burns Night celebrations will mostly centre around, well, booze. But what booze it shall be: expect special Bobby Burns and Cranachan cocktails, all while you hear a recitation of Burns’ famous “Address to the Haggis”, before a Scottish-heavy DJ set sees out the evening till 2am. And in case you were worried, yes there will be free haggis bites from the legendary Deeney’s, too.

Details: 25th January | 441 Bethnal Green Rd, E2 0AN | Free entry, book a table here

Burns Night Ceilidh at Big Penny Social

Big Penny Social is, true to its name, big. 35,000 square foot, big. And they’re making use of that space with their seriously popular Burns Night Ceilidh dance, in which the lively sounds of the Sassenachs band will fill the air as punters dance, drink, and then drink some more.

Details: 24th January | Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, E17 6AL | £14

Burns Night at Skylight Peckham

skylight peckham live band

The best way to raise a glass to the ploughman poet is to make sure the glass is already a few floors up. At Skylight Peckham, they’re going to make sure that glass is filled with a whisky cocktail, and then take advantage of everyone’s lack of sobriety by bringing poetry readings, live music and dancing into the fray, too.

Details: 25th January | Skylight Peckham, 120 Peckham Hill St, London SE15 5JT | £9

 


Fancy a scotch? Take a look at London’s best whisky bars.