Dinner show tickets and haggis ceremony

What your ticket covers

One ticket buys a seat at a dinner table and the whole programme, not a table you share with a separate show. It includes a four-course meal, one drink (a glass of wine, a pint of beer or a soft drink) and a live show of Scottish music, Highland dance and storytelling. The haggis is piped in and Robert Burns's Address to a Haggis is recited before you taste it. Audience participation is encouraged, so you may be invited to sing along or try a dance, though nobody has to. Smoking is not allowed.

Booking online or on the show's own site

Both routes sell the same evening, so the choice is about service, not about the show. Neither route changes what you see or eat. Booking online lets you see live dates in your own currency, and the reserve-now, pay-later option keeps your plans flexible. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before when booked that way. The show's own site sells adult (16 and over), child (4 to 15) and infant (0 to 3) tickets, and asks for 48 hours' notice to cancel, by phone, with a refund or credit. No-shows are charged in full.

• Booking online: your currency, pay later, 24-hour free cancellation
• Booking direct: phone support and a booking office open Monday to Friday
• Large groups: contact the show's office rather than booking online

Choosing your date

The show runs nightly from April to October. For the rest of the year it runs subject to demand, so a winter date may not be open. Open dates appear in the booking calendar, and your confirmation shows the arrival time for your evening, so don't plan other things for the same hours until you have it. If you are only in Edinburgh for a short stay, book once your dates are fixed.

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The haggis ceremony, step by step

At the show, the haggis is piped into the room, Burns's poem is recited, and then you sample the dish. The poem is the reason for the ceremony. Burns wrote it in 1786, in Scots, to praise a humble dish. At a traditional Burns supper the guests stand as the haggis arrives behind a piper, and the speaker slices it open at the right line with a ceremonial knife. It is the highlight of that dinner, and a good short lesson in why haggis became Scotland's national dish.

Why a poem about a pudding

The name haggis was first recorded in England around 1430, but the dish is regarded as traditionally Scottish. It owes its status as the national dish largely to Burns's poem of 1786. In his lifetime haggis was an everyday meal of poorer households, nourishing and very cheap, and the poem praises it against the fashionable French cooking of the day. Both the dish and the poem later became fixtures of Burns suppers, which is why the ceremony is a natural centrepiece for a show about Scottish tradition.

What haggis actually is

Haggis is a savoury pudding. It contains sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet and seasoning, and it is traditionally cooked in the animal's stomach, though an artificial casing is common now. The result is closer to a crumbly, peppery sausage than to anything you would guess from the ingredients. In Scotland it is usually served with neeps (swede) and tatties (potato). Vegetarian versions exist and are widely sold. If you would rather not eat offal, say so when you book.

The rest of the menu

The meal is a four-course choice menu, with a choice of dishes at some courses and vegetarian options marked on the show's menu. The dessert is cranachan, a traditional Scottish dish of cream, whisky, toasted oats, honey and raspberries. The menu may change slightly with the season and with the ingredients available, so look at the show's food page for the current version rather than relying on a list from last year. A children's menu is available. If you have an allergy, ask the show before you book.

• A choice of dishes at several courses
• Vegetarian options marked on the menu
• A children's menu, and one drink included in the package

Where it takes place

The show is staged at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, on Nicolson Street. The College's campus is centred on Surgeons' Hall, and it also holds a museum, a library and a hotel, so this is a working institution, not a purpose-built theatre. On the night, the Pipe Major greets guests on Nicolson Street just before the show opens, and your confirmation carries the map link. The show's contact page gives the address as Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DW.

Other ways to get a Scottish evening

The dinner show is not the only way to meet haggis, pipes and dancing. Burns suppers, held on or near 25 January, serve haggis with the same piping and recitation, but they are annual events, usually hosted by clubs, universities and other organisations. A cèilidh gets you onto the floor yourself, and a whisky tasting is quieter and more focused. Haggis is on many menus across Scotland, so you can try it independently any night. The dinner show is the one that puts the ceremony, the dancers and the meal in a single seat.

Read next: Spirit of Scotland Show vs a ceilidh vs a whisky evening

Families and children

The show is open to all ages. The show's own site sells child tickets for ages 4 to 15 and a separate band for infants aged 0 to 3, and a children's menu is available, so younger guests have their own food. The cast includes a young dancer, known as the wee dancer. The evening lasts about three hours, though, so think about how long your child can sit. If you travel with an under-four, ask whichever seller you use how infants are counted before you pay.

Who this isn't for

Skip it if you want to dance all night, because here the dancers perform and you mostly watch. Skip it if you don't want a three-hour, seated evening. Skip it if offal and a haggis ceremony are a hard no and you want no part in them. And if you need a short, flexible dinner before an early start, this fixed evening is the wrong fit.