Carnival night will have ghostly theme

Tam O’Shanter is the inspiration for the biggest Burns Night celebration in the town, which also marks the opening celebration of this year’s ten-day Big Burns Supper Festival.
With over 10,000 people expected to line the carnival route, Big Burns Supper executive producer Graham Main said: “Robert Burns wrote Tam O’Shanter when he lived in Dumfries, and is considered to be his most epic poem.
“It is a fitting inspiration to the opening of a festival which is as ambitious as the Big Burns Supper and a perfect tribute to our national bard.”
More than 4000 people are directly involved in making lanterns in preparation for the massive procession of light which will run through the heart of the town.
And Burns’ poem will be recreated through visual design, puppetry, dance and music in a stunning outdoor performance billed as bringing a festival atmosphere to the whole town.
Community spaces across Dumfries have been transformed into creative hubs as a massive team of artists, volunteers and participants work round the clock in preparation for the big event on Sunday, with lantern-making sessions taking place in community spaces all across the Dumfries neighbourhoods.
And The Stove is one of the community hubs that has been involved, with the Blueprint 100 team busy working to create costumes under their theme of ‘Dead Celebrities from 2016’.
Festival community producer Cara McNaught said: “The carnival is a massive undertaking which has taken nearly 12 months of planning and includes over 450 costumes, involving eight different neighbourhood hubs.”
Highlights of this year’s Big Burns Supper festival include singers Lulu and Charlie Landsborough, The Hackney Colliery Band, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and cabaret Le Haggis.
The festival opens tonight at Easterbrook Hall with performances of Le Haggis and Lulu.
Events will run from January 20 to 29 and include over 200 different shows and events.