And the 2019 Kilt Skate Capital is...
/The 2020 kilt skate season will soon be upon us. Already some cities have set their dates. Let’s look back at some of last winter’s highlights and declare the 2019 Kilt Skate Capital. A reminder of past champions:
2015 Ottawa
The 2019 season began with a new partner among the kilt skate cities: Niagara-on-the-Lake. On January 4, the Friends of Fort George hosted a “Regency-themed Skating Party,” and as kilts were very much a part of the attire in the early 1800s, this website was pleased to include NOTL in the promotion of the national kilt skate.
After two years in which hearty prairie people took to the ice in 30-below temperatures, and one year in which the event had to be cancelled because the ice had melted, Winnipeg decided to follow Glengarry’s lead and hold its kilt skate indoors. The St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg was rewarded with one of its best turnouts yet.
Two weeks later, one of many 2019 Arctic fronts descended on Eastern Canada just in time for three outdoor events. In Montreal, where kilt skates have had to be rescheduled in past years because of inclement weather, the cold did not keep the skaters away, but for the 2020 event, The St. Andrew’s Society of Montreal has announced it will host the kilt skate indoors.
That same weekend, the Scottish Society of Ottawa hosted the fifth annual kilt skate in the city where the phenomenon began as a house party organized to skate on the Rideau Canal. Skaters turned out to the Lansdowne Skate Pad near the Aberdeen Pavilion in spite of cold weather. The 2020 Ottawa skate will return to Lansdowne.
Last year, the laurels for the 2018 Kilt Skate Capital were awarded to Toronto — a significant accomplishment given that the Sons of Scotland had hosted Toronto’s first ever kilt skate only the year before. For 2019 the cold kept the numbers down but those who showed up had a great time.
The following weekend, the weather warmed up a little bit, and this helped the organizers of the first ever kilt skate to be hosted in the United States: the 2019 Tartan Skate NYC. The American Scottish Foundation, in partnership with Bryant Park has set February 1 as the date for its 2020 kilt skate.
The Saskatoon Highland Dancing Association hosts the annual Saskatoon event and, once again this year, there was a very strong youth component to their event on Sunday, February 10.
That same day, the St. Andrew-Caledonian Society of Calgary hosted its skate at Olympic Plaza. Some brave souls did take to the ice in 40-below temperatures.
Others took advantage of the warmth of the firepits or the fellowship around the cake table.
Lethbridge hosted its first kilt skate on March 9 — an indoor event that attracted a lot of attention from skaters who had never before seen this way of celebrating the Scottish element of Canada’s multicultural heritage. The second annual Lethbridge event is scheduled for Saturday, February 1.
But who is the Kilt Skate Capital of Canada — and North America? We’ve saved the best for the last.
In 2018, the counties of Glengarry introduced an important innovation to the kilt skate phenomenon. For the first time, a skate was held in an indoor arena, combined with a social full of music, food and beverages and lots of fellowship in the warmth of an arena hall. Glengarry kept the event indoors again in 2019, and within a few days, a video of the skating had 200,000 likes on Facebook.
The video highlighted a component that is becoming more common in many kilt skates: skating musicians.
For the first time, a kilt skate also featured a costume contest — in which some of the costumes were Scottish-themed.
Glengarry also did a great job of leveraging its proud military traditions, and getting the local cadets to participate in the kilt skate.
And once again, Glengarry took full advantage of the upstairs hall in the arena to provide food — here served by Jamie MacDonald, Mayor of North Glengarry, and Francis Drouin, MP, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. VIP participation is often a feature of successful kilt skates.
Glengarry was also among the kilt skate cities to include dancing in the festivities.
All in all a highly successful event and we’re proud to name Glengarry as the 2019 Kilt Skate Capital of Canada — and of North America. And, who knows, maybe the world? (Plans are now afoot — a skated foot — for the first kilt skate in Dublin, Ireland. Watch for further details.)
But in the meantime, congratulations to Glengarry. May the preparations for the 2020 kilt skate season bring everyone lots of fun and fellowship.
