Tartan Up! Kilt skate season is coming.

The Great Canadian Kilt Skate is back – and it’s bigger than ever.

What began as a Robbie Burns house party and morphed in 2015 into an Ottawa and a national event has grown exponentially in the past year – in large part because of COVID-19 restrictions. 

 With a public health prohibition on community gatherings, the SSO introduced a new way to hold a kilt skate:  the “Home Edition,” where individuals, families and small groups sent us their pictures of their socially-distanced mini-events on local rinks, ponds and – yes – canals.

 The response was outstanding.  The ottscot.ca Home Edition Gallery features photos from kilt skaters across Canada.  Many skaters had donned kilt and tartans for the first time – a way to celebrate Scottish culture that’s indelibly Scottish and undeniably Canadian.  Among those new kilt skaters, several made inquiries about how to host community events in their own city once the pandemic restrictions were lifted.

 This winter, a record 12 cities across Canada have expressed their intention to host a community kilt skate this winter.  The newest additions to the national kilt skate family include Halifax NS, Moncton NB, and Midland ON. 

 And the Home Edition?  It proved so popular that it will remain a feature of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate for years to come.  Skaters are encouraged to send their photos to: #ottscot  #kiltskate2022OTT  #ScotlandIsNow  and  #TartanUp