| Burns Night 2009 |
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The Biggest Burns Night Outside Scotland On 14 February 2009, the anniversary of the great Scottish poet, Robert Burns, was celebrated in Kyiv for the 14th year running. It was the biggest and best KLC Burns Night so far, and it was all for charity. Organised as usual by Stuart McKenzie of Pulse, it was a truly international affair with guests coming from all over the world. Everyone in attendance knew it would be a good event, but no-one was prepared for just how good a night it was going to be. As the date this year coincided with St. Valentines Day, the theme of the night, as well as having the traditional Scottish flavour, was all about love, and at both ends of the hall were massive screens where people could sms messages of love to their partners which were then displayed for everyone to see. As has become something of a tradition over the years, DJ Pasha was the host on the night, and as always he did a great job, especially when it came to coaxing people to part with their cash in the Live Auction, the proceeds of which, along with other cash raising schemes such as the silent auction and raffle, go to helping the needy and underprivileged. The entertainment was top notch with Slava Vakarchuk giving a one off unplugged performance, the lovely little Mika Newton giving it her all, Boney M getting everyone on the dance floor and local band Magma playing well known covers well into the wee hours. The unique Red Hot Chilli Pipers (that's pipers, not peppers) were something special, taking to the stage in red kilts and blasting out some rocked up versions of traditional Scottish pipe tunes and playing classic rock like it's never been played before. Ever heard AC/DC on the bagpipes? It's something you won't forget quickly. One of the major highlights of the night was the auctioning of a Mitsubishi Lancer donated by local company NIKO. Twenty-five raffle tickets were sold for $1,000 each raising a mammoth $25,000 dollars. All proceeds of the Lancer raffle were donated to the All Ukrainian Charity Fund All in all, it was a very special night, and keeping with the St. Valentine theme, it was rounded off nicely when Lions Mark Burden and Ronnie Sleiman were so overcome with all the love in the room that they couldn't help getting down on bended knee and proposing! Who was Robert Burns?
Wikipedia: "Robert Burns (25 January 1759 - 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a 'light' Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature." We are busy to bring you the stories and pictures as soon as we are getting aware of them: 3.3.2009 - Articles by Ukrainian online news-sites can be found here. 24.2.09 - selection of KLC PR pictures (for more information, please contact Martin Nunn via 'Contact Us')
16.2.09 - excerpt of a photostory by Kyiv Post (more on http://www.kyivpost.com/gallery/495)
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