Get ready for the Great Canadian Kilt Skate 2026

By Andy MacCulloch

Kilt skate season is around the corner, and communities across Canada and in Scotland are busy getting ready. We are kicking off early this year with a January 18, 2026 Kilt Skate in Calgary. It was -30 C there last year so they are trying a different date to evade the cold! 

The Scottish Society of Ottawa (SSO) is one of the founding Kilt Skate communities, and home to the Rideau Canal - the biggest skating rink in the world. The SSO will lead up to eight other communities in the second annual National and International Kilt Skate weekend from February 20-22. 

The twin counties of Renfrew, Ontario, Canada and Scots in Renfrewshire, Scotland will also be back. We look forward to hearing the details about your community Kilt Skate and we will post them on Kiltskate.com along with blogs and pictures.

Motivated by the cooling weather and by the international fellowship of Kilt Skaters everywhere, SSO Communications Director Liz Smith, originally from Montrose on Scotland's East coast, wrote a Great Canadian Kilt Skate-inspired poem in a Burns-derivative style and shares it with us below.

Kilt Skating is fun! Looking forward to another wonderful season of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate.

Sláinte and Happy Holidays to all!

To my own true Braveheart of the Kilt Skate

Oh my luv requires some cozy wool hose,

To warm him while he’s skating,

For kilted legs, when winter blows,

Risk frostbite — and could constrain our dating!

Yet boldly still he skates along,

Though winter winds are biting,

His tartan sways to a Highland song,

So gallant and exciting!