Tartan Up! It’s Kilt Skate Season

The Great Canadian Kilt Skate is back Live for the first time since the pandemic. The 9th annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate hosted by the Scottish Society of Ottawa (SSO) returns to its usual home at the Lansdowne Skating Court behind the Aberdeen Pavilion. Join us between 1:00 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday February 19, as part of this year’s Winterlude.

Last season our pragmatic and innovative group of SSO volunteers cooked up the Great Canadian Kilt Skate “Home Edition”. Individuals and small groups donned their kilts and tartans and skated outdoors alone or with their family. Safe, socially distanced and a great way to get outside, exercise and have fun. Hardy Canadians from all over the country embraced the idea, making it the most successful Kilt Skate yet.

The SSO also created a gallery on its website, showing of a wide range of “micro events” – all socially-distanced. Tartaned and kilted skaters took to the ice on their backyard rinks, their neighborhood outdoor rinks, local ponds and rivers and, of course, the Rideau Canal Skateway. The number and variety of pictures on the SSO Gallery helped determine which city would be anointed as the Kilt Skate Capital of Canada! Ottawa’s participation was particularly robust, earning the community the title of “Great Canadian Kilt Skate Capital of Canada.”

Wear your tartans and don a kilt if you have one. You don’t have to be Scottish. You just need a sense of fun and adventure. Or if you would prefer your own personal celebration of Scotland’s contribution to Canada, we will continue with “Home Edition” kilt skate. So far the first post pandemic Great Canadian Kilt Skate is building momentum with nine skates already announced in:

  • Brampton, ON

  • Calgary, AB

  • Concord, NH

  • Fergus, ON

  • Glengarry, ON

  • Moncton, NB

  • Montreal, QC

  • Ottawa, ON

  • Winnipeg, MAN

The Ottawa version of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate will be held at Lansdowne Park Skating Circle February 19. It is part of SSO’s annual OttScot Festival – a series of winter events which includes St. Andrew’s Day whisky tasting, a Hogman-eh! party on New Year’s Eve, and a Robbie Burns Celebration. Information on the Festival can be found at https://ottscot.ca/ott-scot-festival/. For information about the “Home Edition,” the Ottawa event, and kilt skates elsewhere in Canada: https://ottscot.ca/kiltskate.

The SSO is also collaborating with coordinating the participation of the above Scottish organizations across Canada (and beyond) and the SSO is encouraging participants to gather in their communities or to video record themselves skating in kilts and tartans with family and friends and submit it for a fun compilation video. The best skate will be recognized as the Kilt Skate Capital of Canada. Hope to see you at Lansdowne on February 19. And be sure to send us your photos and video to communications@ottscot.ca or to #kiltskate2022OTT and #TartanUp.

Andy MacCulloch is the Director of Communications and Kilt Skate, Scottish Society of Ottawa and can be reached at: communications@ottscot.ca

Christine Guay