Having spent the past few winters in Ireland, I was delighted to be in Ottawa this year for its tenth annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate. The date corresponded with the last weekend of Ottawa’s annual Winterlude carnival, so the Ice Hog mascots — suitably tartaned up — were on hand to welcome kilt skaters.

“It was a small kilt skate for the first one in the Renfrew County,” reports Whitney Brooks, the event organizer. “But, the community came together and showed up!”

For the second straight year, Scots and Scots-at-heart in Moncton, New Brunswick, have celebrated their cultural roots at the annual Polarfest winter carnival.

We had an amazing day. The weather was perfect, sunny and +4C for the 10th Annual Calgary Kilt Skate.

It was a wonderfully warm sunny day in Toronto and the Evergreen Brickworks Weekend Market was in full swing when a small but mighty group of kilted skaters took to the ice.

On Family Sunday, February 18, the skating rink at Lansdowne Park will once again celebrate Scotland’s contribution to Canada by exposing bare knees to the elements of a Canadian winter.   

This year on January 28, the St. Andrew's Society returned to Verdun to launch the 10th season of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate.

This year is shaping up for another exceptional kilt skate season. New communities are signing up to host kilt skate events. As of Rabbie Burns Day 2024, the calendar includes…

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.