2021 is off to a flying start!
Burns Night is fast approaching and it will be rather different from other years. Not only can we not dine out for a Burns Supper or head to the pub to celebrate with a wee dram with friends this year, but on our a more positive note, Burns Night 2021 has been marked with a momentous occasion and achievement.
SEE ALSO: 5 Food and Drink Activities To Celebrate Burns Night At Home
Renowned Scottish butcher, Simon Howie, has gone one step further (or shall we say 107,293 feet further) by launching the first ever haggis into space. Yes, you read that right. To mark the celebration of Scottish poet, Robert Burns, Simon Howie has released some epic footage of the haggis’ journey into space, which sees it soar over 20 miles above the Earth. In case you’re not sure how high that is, that’s equivalent to nearly four times the height of Everest, or 3.5 times higher than a jumbo jet flies! Woah!
Spreading the Scottish spirit, the Original 454g Simon Howie Haggis took to the skies on a clear and beautiful winter’s day, taking off from Simon Howie HQ in Dunning before travelling over Stirling, Falkirk, Edinburgh, and the Pentland Hills before its safe landing in Lauder.
Apparently, the visibility on the day was so good at that altitude, that you could see at least as far as 250 miles away and at parts make out the Scottish cities of Dundee, St Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow and Stranraer. Better yet, the haggis even got to a glimpse of the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and all the way down to Blackpool, Manchester, and Liverpool.
Stratonauts, who assisted in making this momentous occasion happen, said after the haggis reached heights of at least 250 miles, it then fell to Earth at nearly 200 miles an hour before the parachute attached took over. Lewis Campbell, Stratonauts Director, said this means “it also probably the fastest haggis in the world too!” That’s one impressive haggis!
Simon Howie said: “After a year like no other, we wanted to kick off 2021 by lifting the spirits of the general public. We are thrilled to have worked with Stratonauts to take Scotland’s national dish to new heights! Burns Night is one of the most important dates on the food calendar for us and we wanted to mark the occasion by sending the UK’s best-selling haggis, the Original 454g, to the edge of space.”
However, this isn’t the first time Simon Howie has taken the humble haggis to new heights, as the butcher has previously hosted the world’s highest Burns Supper on the top of Kilimanjaro in 2010.
After quite a journey, the ‘space haggis’ will now be preserved in the Simon Howie headquarters for years to come to mark the occasion of being the first haggis to be launched into space.
[Featured Image: Simon Howie]