Coming Soon: Home Edition of Great Canadian Kilt Skate

COVID won’t stop Canadians from celebrating Scottish heritage by skating in kilts and tartans this winter. The Seventh Annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate will go ahead with a new twist – a “Home Edition.”

“Kilt skating began in 2015,” says Don Cummer, Director National Kilt Skate for the Scottish Society of Ottawa (SSO), which organizes the pan-Canadian event each winter.  Some kilt skates bring together scores – even hundreds – of participants. “This year,” says Cummer, “we’re encouraging kilt skaters to stay safe. Skate on your own. Get out with your family. Follow the rules. Have a good time this winter. Oh, and send pictures to #kiltskate.”

Many cities are making tentative plans for their usual larger events this winter, depending on public safety protocols.  But the partner organizations also want kilt skaters everywhere to be able to celebrate within the most stringent pandemic rules. The “Home Edition” will see skaters out in their backyard rinks, the local community rinks, the frozen creeks and ponds, or anywhere they can enjoy the skate and maintain the public health measures.

Individuals and families are encouraged to post photos and video on social media of their mini-event.  The Scottish Society of Ottawa hopes to compile a video from the submissions, and the partner organizations will use these postings to make the case for their city as the Kilt Skate Capital of Canada.  Last winter, nine Canadian cities vied for the honour:  Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Fergus, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, Calgary and South Glengarry Township, which earned the bragging rights. The kilt skate phenomenon has gone international with events last winter in New York City and Dublin.

In organizing the Great Canadian Kilt Skate at a national level, the SSO is grateful to have the continued partnership of the Scottish Government, The SSO and the partner organizations across Canada will highlight the #ScotlandIsNow campaign that shows Scotland as a dynamic, forward-looking nation that is a good place in which to live, work, study, and invest.