Ottawa's 6th Annual Kilt Skate and the 50th Opening of Rideau Canal Skateway

Ottawa's 6th Annual Kilt Skate and the 50th Opening of Rideau Canal Skateway

Although the thermometer has been above freezing for most of the past weeks, in recent days, winter has come back with a vengeance. The morning of the kilt skate dawned with temperatures of minus-25 with the wind chill, and a blizzard forecast for that evening. But none of this stopped the intrepid skaters, many of whom have been coming out year after year ever since Ottawa hosted its first kilt skate to celebrate the bicentennial of Sir John A. Macdonald in 2015.

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Saskatoon -- The Year of Young People

Saskatoon -- The Year of Young People

By 1 p.m., the temperature had managed to crawl its way up to a balmy minus-19.  But cold weather doesn't keep prairie people indoors.  Some thirty hearty skaters laced up at the Cameco Meewasin Skating Rink for the fourth annual Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate.

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Glengarry Highland Games

Glengarry Highland Games

But the principle focus of the Glengarry Highland Games is not reenactment but performance:  both in music and in sport. More than 200 dancers attend, but the Glengarry event is especially renowned for its pipers. The Glengarry games are the home of the North American Pipe Band Championship. Pipers and drummers come from as far away as Austin, Texas, and San Diego, California, and as close by as Maxville, assemble on the field for the opening ceremonies. 

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Saskatoon: Kilt Skate Capital of Canada!

Saskatoon: Kilt Skate Capital of Canada!

What was Saskatoon's secret? The weather helped. Last year, the temperature as around minus-30, but that didn't stop Sandy Campbell from playing the bagpipes while he skated the first Sir John A skate in 2015.

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