Years ago, if someone told members of The Caledonian Society of Bermuda they would be featured in a BBC documentary, a few might have said “Yer aff yer heid!”. (Roughly translated to mean ‘You’re crazy’.)

But the local Scottish community will be getting a rare chance under the international spotlight this weekend, when they are featured in ‘The Commonwealth of Burns’ on BBC 2.

Last year BBC Scotland commissioned Matchlight Ltd, an independent television production company, to create the film about Scottish culture and the Commonwealth, in light of this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The hour-long documentary looks at Burns’ Night celebrations worldwide, focusing on Bermuda, Ghana, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Ian Hind, of the Caledonian Society, said: “[The filming process] was very exciting and not what I was expecting.

“We got the call way in advance saying they were interested in featuring Bermuda as one of four countries of the Commonwealth. They didn’t choose some of the bigger countries like Canada.

“The film crew was with us for a week preceding the event and interviewed various members of the community who were involved with putting together the event, like Mark Lavery and Claire Hattie, and they filmed us all doing different things.”

They shot clips of Mr Hind travelling to the hotel for a meeting the day before the event; and also captured Rosewood Tucker’s Point Chef Gerry Adams making arrangements for the meal.

Mr Hind said it was “nerve wracking” going in front of the cameras and trying to appear natural.

However he said the film crew “was very good at putting us at ease” and took time to get to know the featured members over the course of the week.

Burns’ Suppers celebrate the life and works of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, Mr Burns was appreciated for a soft dialect that made him accessible to people outside of the region.

His poetry includes ‘Auld Lang Syne’, typically sung at New Year’s Eve celebrations, ‘To a Mouse’ and ‘Tam O’ Shanter’ considered by many to be one of the best examples of the narrative poem in European literature.

The event typically begins with a cocktail reception, followed by dinner.

Haggis is brought in with piped music and often set in front of the society’s President, who will recite the Burns poem: ‘Address to a Haggis’. Following that there will be a series of speeches in honour of the event.

The Caledonian Society of Bermuda was established in 1936 and its first event was a dinner and dance to celebrate Burns’ Night. An archived newspaper article hailed it a “huge success”.

Last year’s sold our event was held at Tucker’s Point Hotel.

The film crew captured local attendees in their refinery — kilts for the men and tartan dresses or sashes for the ladies — on the night of Burns’ Supper 2013.

Mr Hind said they were excited to see the final product, whenever they can get their hands on the DVD.

“We are all bursting to see this finished documentary,” he said. “The short clip online is a great taste and looks terrific, even the other countries you can see everyone was having an amazing time and doing something similar to what we were.

“The film will be an hour long, so hopefully we get 15 minutes out of it and Bermuda is shown in a good light.”

He understands the documentary will only be shown in the UK, but is hoping friends or family in the region will record it so they can have their first look. The production company have also promised to send them a copy of the DVD.

‘The Commonwealth of Burns’ will air on BBC on Saturday at 9:30pm GMT. Visit this link to see a short clip from the film: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01pfbj5.

Useful website: www.caledoniansocietyofbermuda.com