A major festival is returning to Dumfries and Galloway this month after it was cancelled last year due to funding issues.
The Big Burns Supper is set to host 150 events at more than 30 venues in Dumfries and beyond from January 17 to February 2.
As well as a light show featuring five installations, there will be cabaret, comedy, music and entertainment.
The festival is in celebration of the life and legacy of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet.
Big Burns Supper is aiming to capitalise on what has been an extraordinary year for sightings of the Northern Lights (Image: Supplied) Graham Main, executive producer and founder of Big Burns Supper, said: “We’re thrilled to be bringing our unique programming to venues beyond Dumfries.
“Big Burns Supper is all about community, accessibility and making Burns relevant to a new audience.
“This wider reach helps us achieve that.”
Community suppers, all set to take place on Burns Night, January 25, will be held in Stranraer, Newton Stewart, Kirkcubright, Corsock, Holywood, Glencaple, Moffat, Langholm and Dumfries, in venues including community halls, pubs and an arts centre.
Appropriately, one of the venues is Ellisland Farm, just outside Dumfries, where Burns lived and produced some of his most notable work.
Joan McAlpine, project director of the Robert Burns Ellisland Museum and Farm, said: “It’s exciting to be inviting the community in to celebrate a Burns Supper in the barn that Burns built.
“This is very much in the spirit of the Big Burns Supper, rolling out Scottish culture and traditions to everyone.
“It used to be a case that you could only attend a Burns Supper as a member of a club.
“This means all ages and backgrounds can celebrate our national bard.”
Big Burns Supper is also capitalising on what has been an extraordinary year for sightings of the Northern Lights.
The festival is in celebration of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet (Image: Supplied) Mr Main said: “It’s going to be spectacular.
“The last year has seen a major uptick in the solar activity that brings about the aurora borealis and we have collected superb images from all over Scotland.
“It will be a real talking point.”
David Hope-Jones, chief executive of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance, sees the return of the festival as vital to the region’s visitor economy.
He said: “We help coordinate dozens of businesses, organisations and local groups to better leverage Burns tourism in Dumfriesshire.
“Big Burns Supper is an essential part of this and a fantastic asset for the South of Scotland.
“Without fail, it finds new, innovative, engaging and disruptive ways of inspiring each new generation to discover Burns.
“And, by bringing new visitors into our region through January and February, it helps potentially hundreds of local businesses through what is otherwise a hugely challenging time of year.”
The full programme for Big Burns Supper is at www.bigburnssupper.com.