Dates

When is Burns Night?

The countdown aims at the next 25 January. Below, the weekday for each year and how a Burns supper runs.

Burns Night, 2027

Monday, 25 January 2027

Rule: 25 January, the birthday of Robert Burns (1759).

Burns Night, next years
2026Sunday, 25 January 2026
2027Monday, 25 January 2027
2028Tuesday, 25 January 2028
2029Thursday, 25 January 2029
2030Friday, 25 January 2030
2031Saturday, 25 January 2031

Next Burns Night

25 January 2027

Monday,

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89 days from today (28 October 2026).

Counting from the day this page was built. Worked out on this device from your entries and its clock: nothing is sent, nothing is stored.

Add 2026 to 2035 to my calendar

Burns Night is always 25 January, the birthday of the poet Robert Burns, born in Alloway, Ayrshire, in 1759. In 2027 it falls on a Monday, in 2028 on a Tuesday and in 2026 it was a Sunday. It is celebrated with a Burns supper: haggis, neeps and tatties, whisky, the reading of Burns's poems and songs, and Auld Lang Syne to close. The first suppers were held by his friends in 1801, five years after his death, and clubs across Scotland and the world have kept the tradition since. Burns Night is not a bank holiday in Scotland or anywhere else in the UK, so when the 25th falls early in the week, many clubs, restaurants and families hold their supper on the nearest Friday or Saturday instead. The simulator gives the weekday and that nearest weekend for any year. Burns is regarded as Scotland's national poet, and Scotland.org presents the evening as one of the great dates of the Scottish year.

Burns Night in a given year

25 January falls on a

Monday

Days from today89
Weekend supper on30 January 2027
Robert Burns's birth25 January 1759, 268 years
Burns Night →

Rules and dates checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method

25 January, 2026 to 2035

Always 25 January. Years since the birth of Burns in brackets.
YearDateDay
202625 January 2026Sunday267 years
202725 January 2027Monday268 years
202825 January 2028Tuesday269 years
202925 January 2029Thursday270 years
203025 January 2030Friday271 years
203125 January 2031Saturday272 years
203225 January 2032Sunday273 years
203325 January 2033Tuesday274 years
203425 January 2034Wednesday275 years
203525 January 2035Thursday276 years

Robert Burns

Burns was the son of a tenant farmer and worked the land himself while writing. His first collection, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, printed in Kilmarnock in 1786, made him famous almost overnight. He wrote or collected hundreds of songs, including Auld Lang Syne, sung at New Year across the English-speaking world, and A Red, Red Rose. He died in Dumfries in 1796, aged 37. Scotland.org describes Burns Night as a celebration of the life and work of Scotland's national bard on his birthday.

The order of a Burns supper

Traditional running order; clubs vary it.
StepWhat happens
1Welcome by the host, and the Selkirk Grace
2Piping in the haggis
3Address to a Haggis, then the toast
4The meal: haggis, neeps and tatties, then dessert
5The Immortal Memory, a speech on Burns
6Toast to the Lassies, and the Reply
7Poems and songs
8Vote of thanks and Auld Lang Syne

Planning a supper

Butchers and supermarkets in Scotland stock haggis all year, but demand peaks in the week before 25 January, and vegetarian haggis is widely available. Many Scottish schools hold Burns competitions in which pupils recite his poems in January. If the 25th falls on a Sunday or Monday, as in 2026 and 2027, most public suppers move to the Saturday before or after. Burns Night comes two to six weeks before Pancake Day in most years. The other Scottish national day, St Andrew's Day, is a bank holiday, on 30 November.

The Selkirk Grace and the toasts

The Selkirk Grace, often attributed to Burns, is four short lines in Scots said before the meal: some have meat and cannot eat, some would eat that want it, but we have meat and we can eat, so let the Lord be thankit. The Address to a Haggis follows the piping in of the haggis; the speaker cuts the haggis open during the third verse. The Toast to the Lassies, once a vote of thanks to the women who had cooked the meal, is now a light-hearted speech answered by the Reply from the Lassies. Suppers usually end with everyone standing, crossing arms and joining hands for Auld Lang Syne.

Burns clubs around the world, from Canada to Australia and Russia, hold suppers in the same order, which makes 25 January one of the most widely celebrated birthdays of any poet.

Questions people ask

Is Burns Night a bank holiday?

No. Scotland's bank holidays are New Year's Day, 2 January, Good Friday, the two May Mondays, the first Monday in August, St Andrew's Day and Christmas and Boxing Day. Burns Night is an evening celebration, and most suppers are held after work or on a weekend close to the date.

What happens at a Burns supper?

Guests are welcomed and the Selkirk Grace is said. The haggis is piped in and addressed with Burns's poem To a Haggis, then cut open and toasted. After the meal come the Immortal Memory, a speech about Burns, the Toast to the Lassies and the reply, more poems and songs, and Auld Lang Syne.

When is the nearest Saturday to Burns Night 2027?

With 25 January on a Monday in 2027, the nearest Saturday is 23 January 2027, two days before, and the next one 30 January 2027. Clubs and restaurants choose either, and some hold the supper on the Monday itself, so check the date on your invitation or booking.

Related dates

Where these rules come from

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Independent publisher of UK date tools: bank holidays for each nation, clock changes, Easter and the dates that hang on it, worked out by rule and checked against the official lists

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UK dates 2026, checked against the GOV.UK lists and legislation.gov.uk on