The Great Canadian Kilt Skate™ 2022 Season

Ottawa Great Canadian Kilt Skate™ celebration

For eight years, the Great Canadian Kilt Skate™ has celebrated the joie de vivre of those hardy souls who find undauntedly take to the ice in kilts: and others who just like to skate and enjoy the wonderful Scottish, Canadian outdoors experience. Sometimes its the weather that provides challenges. More recently, public health protocols have confronted kilt skating events. The 2022 Great Canadian Kilt Skate™ season saw a daunting combination of both.

Tracadie, Prince Edward Island

In Tracadie, Prince Edward Island, for example, the first community kilt skate ever to be held in Atlantic Canada went ahead in the middle of a blizzard. The organizers had rescheduled it several times: to avoid a blizzard, then a rain storm, then cancelled ice at a local indoor arena. In early March they were determined to go ahead in spite of a late-season wintry blast. The skaters skated, the piper piped, the Highlanders flinged, and hot chocolate warmed everyone against the storm and everybody had a blast.

Winnipeg also showed a determination to celebrate with bare knees and ice Scotland’s contribution to Canada. The temperature read minus-25, but the wind chill felt like minus-40. Nevertheless, kilt skaters gathered at the Forks of the Red and Assiniboine and enjoyed their day

The girls of the Saskatoon Highland Dance Association proved once again the sub-Arctic cold was not going to get in the way of their fun for their 8th annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate™.

South Glengarry hosted its kilt skate in the warmth of a hockey arena. They used the facilities to organize an indoor ceilidh and an outdoor winter carnival.

South of the border, the weather was perfect for skating when New York City held its fourth annual Tartan Kilt Skate NYC at Bryant Park, and the New Hampshire Scots initiated its first kilt skate on the lake in historic Concord, New Hampshire.

Sadly COVID-19 forced cancellation of many planned community events including Halifax, Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, Fergus, Midland, Lethbridge and Calgary. We’re hoping to see kilt skates in these cities next year. The Scottish Society of Ottawa had planned to open the 2022 kilt skate season with a community event at Lansdowne Park on January 8. It was to be part of the month-long OttScot Festival celebrating SSO’s tenth anniversary. When the COVID-19 numbers spiked over Christmas, the event was cancelled – a huge disappointment to those who have come to see the annual community kilt skate as a winter rite.

Nevertheless when faced with COVID-19 restrictions, kilt skaters in Ottawa, as elsewhere in Canada, showed their mettle by finding their own safe, venues for skating. The skates were just the tonic for the COVID-19 blues: smaller, safe, socially distanced and but still tons of fun in the fresh air. They posted pictures of individual and family kilt skates frolicking on outdoor rinks as well as rivers, ponds and canals – the return of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate™, “Home Edition.”

When the public health protocols relaxed in February, the SSO turned to a crack team of experienced volunteers who quickly put together a community event on the ice behind the Aberdeen Pavilion. In spite of the short notice, on February 26, the Ottawa kilt skate community showed up in numbers – along with pipers, singers and an array of local politicians.

Across Canada, the COVID-19 may have blunted overall participation but the enthusiasm and resilience of the participants made this one of the best kilt skate seasons ever. With 13 Canadian and two American partners, the family of kilt skate communities is larger, more diverse and more inclusive than it’s ever been. With the support of sponsors, including the governments of Scotland and Ontario, we’ve been able to promote the kilt skate phenomenon as never before.

Kilt skaters have proven their hardiness in the face of the Canadian winter as always, but their perseverance and determination to carry on bravely and have fun doing it even in a pandemic was inspiring. The Great Canadian Kilt Skate™ will continue to provide winter fun for years to come.