One of the best things about the Great Canadian Kilt Skate (GCKS) is the wide differences among the communities and their approach to kilt skating events. Large or small, indoors or outdoors, new or established: each skate is unique and special.

It’s been a remarkable kilt skate season. With public health protocols lifted, community events returned. Never in the nine-year history of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate have we seen so many new organizations join the skate family: in Lumsden, Brampton, Moncton, Quebec City, Vancouver and Antigonish.

This year, independent of each other and on the same date (February 18, 2023), two first-time kilt skate cities Quebec City, QC, and Vancouver BC — returned to the original kilt skate idea: hold it at night as a party primarily for adults.

Ottawa hosted its ninth annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate on the Sunday of Family Day weekend. That same day, 80 km down the Ottawa Valley, the Township of North Glengarry hosted its biennial kilt skate.

With the lifting of the pandemic restrictions, JP had a vision: bring the town together for a community kilt skate and combine it with a celebration of Scotland’s National Poet. He announced a kilt skate for January 25 — Robbie Burns Day — to be followed by a poetry reading at the town library.

The winter of 2023 is shaping up as one of the biggest and varied kilt skate seasons yet. New communities are coming to the party, and they are coming up with new ways to organize a kilt skate.

Nobody celebrates New Years Eve like the Scots and, in Canada, nobody throws a New Year’s Eve party like the Scottish Society of Ottawa — tonight they are offering their 11th annual “Hogman-eh!” at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park.

After two years when public health protocols forced cancellation of scheduled events, community Kilt Skates will return to Montreal and Calgary.