On 31 January was the 250 Anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s most famous poet, Robert Burns. To mark this occasion, the newly formed Caledonian Society of Croatia, in association with the British Embassy, organised a day’s events in Zagreb to celebrate his life and to raise money for DEBRA, the charity for butterfly children (those suffering from epidermolysis bullosa).

The day started at the strike of noon in Trg Bana Jelačića where crowds were treated to some fine piping courtesy of a Scottish piper, and readings of a selection of Burns’s poems, including his Tam O Shante and Auld Lang Syne. The piper’s walk to Flower Square, and around the Importanne centre, generated spontaneous applause from appreciative Croatian onlookers. A special tram, decked out with poems and banners in honour of the Poet carried the piper, the British Ambassador, David Blunt, and members of the Society around the centre of town. To offset the chill, Ballantines whisky was professionally served to an appreciating audience.

No Burns night is complete without the Burns Supper, and this year the Society’s Burns Committee and the British Embassy entertained 200 guests to a traditional black tie event at Okrugljak peppered with speeches, poems, piping and of course haggis and whisky. Mr David Blunt chaired the evening and encouraged enthusiastic Croatian, British and international guests to try out traditional Scottish dances such as Dashing White Sergeant and Strip the Willow. Many of the Croatians present were already passionate Scotophiles and knew the dance steps as well as their British counterparts.

The auction of goodies provided by a range of generous sponsors raised over 10,000kn for DEBRA. Ms Tracy Reid, the Australian Ambassador, also kindly added a substantial cash donation to the pot.

Speaking about the event, HMA David Blunt said: “This was the first ever Burns night in Zagreb. The aim was to bring communities together, celebrate the relevance of Burns’s life and raise money for DEBRA. We’ve achieved all of that tonight! It’s been a lot of fun, we now all know a little bit more about Robert Burns and we’ve done something extremely positive for disadvantaged children.”

No event is ever made possible without the participation of an appreciative audience and some hard work by a few willing to shoulder the responsibility. The Society would like thank Andrea Cayley, Jane Hunter and Paul Wisely - The Burns Committee - for getting this ambitious project off the drawing board. The Society would like to offer its special thanks to those who made the event work:

The sponsors:

• Croatian Airlines
• Vita Gym
• Kraš Chocolates
• Ballintines Whiskey
• ZET

Also a big thank you to: The piper Bertie Akyroyd and the reciter Burns’ poem Tam O’Shanter and The Immortal Memory, Dr Paul Walton.