Homecoming Scotland kicks off with Burns event

Homecoming Scotland 2009 got underway over the weekend, with the first official events held, and according to First Minister Alex Salmond, it will prove to be an “extraordinary celebration.”

A weekend of events was being held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, and to official kick off the Homecoming 2009.

The programme’s aim is to attract expatriates back to their homeland, to celebrate the culture and heritage of Scotland – and to boost tourism.

The Burns weekend was the beginning of a programme of events lasting for the entire year.

Although traditional Burns suppers are held in all corners of the world, from Malawi to Moscow, but Alloway, in Ayrshire, was the focal point in Scotland for the weekend’s festivities – the village where Robert Burns was born in 1759.

Salmond was expected there on Saturday night to attend the Homecoming Burns supper.

Other locations associated with the poet, including his birth cottage, the Alloway Aulk Kirk and the Brig O’Doon, featured in the weekend’s events, with performance and recitals scheduled.

There was said to be a great deal of interest in the weekend of celebrations, with over 3,000 people from UK many other parts of the world signing up for the 1,000 available tickets.

Crowds of up to 10,000 people were expected in Dumfries on Sunday, where Burns died in 1796, for the lantern procession known as Burns Light, featuring schoolchildren from 42 locations.

www.homecomingscotland.com