Burns Supper 2023

The last Saturday of January 2023 saw a gathering of Scottish culture (and a good party) lovers for the Burns Supper. For the 24th time BritCham organized an event to celebrate the immortal memory of the cherished Scott poet Robert Burns, raise money for charity and entertain our guests the Sottish way.

As every year Burns Supper was also a charity event. We would like to thank everyone who gave so generously and especially the Most Generous Table – the “golfers” table that consisted of representatives from DHL, ELKO Grupa, Kronbergs Čukste Levin and Zebra Cargo Movers. Our thanks to Ieva Broka, Natālija Kondratjeva, Ilandra Lejiņa, Ruth Rajavejjabhisal and Māris Vainovskis for volunteering their time and efforts to sell the raffle tickets – you sure were kept busy and the result was great!

We also wish to say many, many thanks to the wonderful supporters who provided such nice prizes (more than any of the previous years!) and made the raffle possible: AC Hotel by Marriott Riga, Ari Stone, Aston Martin Riga, British Embassy in Riga, CBRE Baltics, Casa Nostra, Dailes Theatre, DHL, Dinari Jewels, ESPA Riga, Globuss, Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, King's College Latvia, Korola, Latimira un Partneri, Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel, Radisson Blu Latvija Conference & Spa Hotel, Radisson Blu Rīdzene Hotel, Riga Business School, Riga Graduate School of Law, Rīgas Porcelāns, RISEBA University, SEMARAH Hotels, Simon Boddy, Singh's Restaurant, Via Hansa&Borealis and Žagarkalns.

Burns Supper would not be Burns Supper without the speeches. Firstly, we would like to thank the British Ambassador Paul Brummell for agreeing to be the Patron of the evening. Thanks also to Simon Boddy for the Chairman's Address. We were especially glad that piper Iain Alexander Watson again agreed to participate and delivered an outstanding and dramatic Address to the Haggis and his lovely wife Carol Watson for saying the Selkirk Grace. For the traditional speeches we would like to thank Mark Page for addressing “To the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns” in a way that let us see how relevant Burns’ works are still in this ever-changing world; to Ivars Slokenbergs for the charming Toast to the Lassies (laddies, remember the crazy-hot graph!) and Ilze Berga for the very fitting reply on behalf of the Lassies (lassies, never forget our privilege to change our minds!). One of the largest and most heartfelt thanks we wish to send to the man who spoke for the most of the evening – our MC Gordon Latimir. His involvement and help was of utmost importance in the success of the Burns Supper 2023!

We would like to make a special mention of the Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel management and staff. As with every event their help was invaluable. As well as RISEBA University and Vocational Secondary School VICTORIA who always make sure the venue looks festive and help us out with practical tasks. We are truly grateful for your support and assistance!

Thank you to Singh’s restaurant and Latimira un Partneri for sponsoring and arranging the beverages! Glenmorangie Original Single Malt Scotch Whisky seemed to go down especially smoothly and complement the supper 🙂

After the dinner came the more active and actively fun part of the evening - music and dancing. This was led and taken care of by the Caller Astrīda Rogule and Mirage Jazz Orchestra. They did an amazing job with the Scottish dances and much more! We send them our genuine thanks.

One more big thank you needs to be sent to the Contributing Tables – Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns and Growing Green Together campaign! Thank you for your support! We hope you found the Burns Supper to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

We are truly glad for another successful Burns Supper, and we hope to see you again next year!

Photos from the event are available here.
Camera 1 - Photo credits: Aleksejs Meļņiks
Camera 2 - Photo credits: Didzis Grodzs