Starry line-up for charity Burns night

Starry line-up for charity Burns night

There are many alternative attractions on January 25, 2014 to mark Burns night in this Scots annus mirabilis of 2014, but actor Iain Robertson has assembled a bill of talent to raise funds for the Scottish Cot Death Trust - a charity for which he has just become a new ambassador - that takes some beating.

The Guy's Charity Burns Night is at Glasgow's SWG3 venue near Yorkhill in Eastvale Street and features a sumptuous Scottish menu prepared by Guy Cowan of Guy's restaurant in Candleriggs. On the bill, hosted by Tam Cowan, are actor Ken Stott, who will be delivering the Selkirk Grace; Scots Makar Liz Lochhead, performing a new original work written specially for the occasion; former Taggart star Colin McCredie; and Robertson himself. Dave Anderson will deliver the Address to the Haggis, and new pieces by Ian Pattison, Peter McDougall and David Greig will feature alongside performances from Glasgow Girls actresses Amiera Darwish, Patricia Panther and Frances Thorburn.

l guysrestaurant.co.uk

Battle of the choirs begins

Entry is open for the 2014 Choir of the Year competition, which is being run in association with the Big Big Sing, part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural programme. The competition is open to amateur choirs of between eight and 100 voices and the top 16 will go through from the auditions to category finals in London's Royal Festival Hall in October, with six finalists progressing to a sing-off at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall in December. Big Big Sing will be running workshops on each of the audition days, which begin in Middlesbrough on March 2 and end at Glasgow City Halls on June 22.

l choiroftheyear.com

Postcard art at small prices

Roger Billcliffe's Glasgow gallery in Blythswood Street kicks off the year with an annual show of small postcard-sized paintings. Postcards 2014 is the 20th such exhibition and as usual features pocket-sized works from recent graduates from Scotland's schools and colleges of art alongside those by well-known names in Scottish contemporary art. Prices start from a pocket-money £80, so a visit to the exhibition, which opens on Saturday, is an ideal way to begin a collection of art.

l billcliffegallery.com