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, and more…
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The Ceilidh Club
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: 24th, 25th & 31st January, 1st February | St. Mary’s Marylebone & Porchester Hall, Bayswater | £49-59
Fiddle Paradiddle
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: 24th January | St Thomas’ Church, Telford Avenue, London, SW2 4XW | £50+
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: 24th & 25th 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 poetry, haggis, drams of whisky, and a four-course Scottish feast directly to your mouth – as part of an atmospheric evening of sociable dining.
Details: 24th & 25th January | Sweetwater Mooring, River Lee, White Post Lane, E9 5EN | £60/65
Wee Movers x Deeney’s
The Wee Movers team usually teach kids to dance, so you can be assured that their ceilidh instructions will be easy to follow even a couple of whiskies in. Aside from a lot of rambunctious stomping about to a live band, there’ll also be a piper, poetry readings, and a full Scottish feast put together by Deeney’s (whose haggis toasties are nothing short of legendary).
Details: 25th January | The Social (Leytonstone Ex-Servicemen’s Club), 2 Harvey Rd, E11 3DB | £60
Dinner At SK
Keeping things simple, Sam’s Kitchen in Chiswick is hosting one of its Dinner At SK evenings, and putting on a classically Scottish menu for Burns Night featuring the likes of haggis bridies (a kind of pasty); ‘Tipsy Laird’ trifle; and rumbledethumps (which is simply a better name for bubble & squeak). And of course, they haven’t forgotten the most important ingredient of the meal: a bagpiper.
Details: 25th January | 59-61 Turnham Green Terrace, Chiswick, W4 1RP | £75
The Rhythm And Booze Project
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: 22nd – 24th January | Crol & Co, 77 Dunton Road, SE1 5TW | £65
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: 24th & 25th January | Grand Junction, St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Rowington Close, London, W2 5TF | £18-25
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 six-course 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 | £75 (+£20 for whisky pairing)
Tomás Gormley at Carousel
Stephen Lister
If you lived in Edinburgh, you’d already know Tomás Gormley. He’s the wunderchef behind some of the city’s most impressive restaurants, from Heron (which won a Michelin star in record time) to his latest open-fire venture, Cardinal. But the good news is that you don’t have to go any further than Fitzrovia to sample his cooking, because he’s popping down to Carousel for a week of refined, Scottish-inspired dining just in time for Burns Night. Expect black truffle gougères, a Cranachan granita, and lobster tail poached in lobster shell butter smoked over old whisky barrels…
Details: 21st – 25th January | Carousel, 19-23 Charlotte St, London W1T 1RW | £79.50-85
Burns Night Barn Dance at the Round Chapel
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: 24th & 25th January | The Round Chapel,
Julie’s
The revamped Holland Park institution is putting on a spread of classic Scottish dishes with a not-so-classic twist, thanks to ex-Brawn chef Owen Kenworthy. Expect the likes of lamb belly with haggis Scotch egg; crispy langoustines & black pudding; and clootie dumplings with whisky ice cream. And downstairs in the seductive lounge area? You’ll be able to sip on Irn Bru Daiquiris, which sound utterly lethal.
Details: 25th January | 135 Portland Road, W11 4LW | £85
Boisdale
Unsurprisingly, London’s family of Scottish-themed restaurants will not be getting tucked up early with a cup of cocoa on Burns Night. In fact, they’re putting on ‘The Mother of all Burns’ with a week-long extravaganza, featuring a four or five-course banquet of Scottish fare (including clootie dumplings with whisky custard), majestic bagpiping, the ceremonial address to the haggis, and live music from Rat Pack-style crooners (The Proclaimers weren’t available, apparently).
Details: 20th – 25th January | Boisdale Canary Wharf & Belgravia | £49-99+
The Sun Tavern
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 cocktails for under a tenner and a free whisky tasting with Aberfeldy, all while you hear a recitation of Burns’ famous “Address to the Haggis”, before Pam Hogg’s 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 Ceilidhs, in which the lively sounds of The Sassenachs band will fill the air as punters dance, drink, and then drink some more.
Details: 23rd – 26th January | Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, E17 6AL | £14-16.50
Fancy a scotch? Take a look at London’s best whisky bars.