Winnipeg Free Press Covers Kilt Skate

It’s cold out — don’t forget your kilt

Winter tradition celebrates Scottish culture despite freezing temps

By:Scott BilleckPosted:4:11 PM CST Monday, Feb. 17, 2025

One of the many things the Great Canadian Kilt Skate celebrates each year is the hardiness of the Scottish people.

That ruggedness and resilience were tested on Monday as temperatures plunged close to -30 C while windchills made it feel closer to -40 C, and weather advisories warned against being outside much longer than a few seconds.

“It’s a tribute and a shoutout to Scottish culture and the hardiness and the endurance that they had, especially here in Winnipeg when they first landed,” said Peter Heavysege, event organizer and past president of The St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg. “The Selkirk settlers were the first descendants, and they endured much more than we are today.”

The first kilt skate was held in 2015 on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. Since then, the event has fanned out to several cities nationwide and internationally.

The day to bring Scots and friends together also doubles as a competitive event, with Winnipeg a two-time winner of the title of Kilt Skate Capital of Canada in 2021 and again in 2023.

The hope, Heavysege said, was for a third title in 2025.

But the friendly competition between host cities takes a backseat to the deep-rooted pride of Scots in Canada.

Cameron Dawson kept spirits warm on Monday with the soothing and inspiring sounds of a Scottish staple: the bagpipe.

Dawson, a sergeant in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders pipe band, is a fourth-generation piper after his great-grandfather first took up the instrument.

“It’s important for me to carry on that heritage and that history,” Dawson said. “You don’t want to flatten that curve. You want to always continue and embrace your background.”

The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders are an army reserve unit headquartered in the Minto Armoury in Winnipeg.

Western Canada’s oldest kilted infantry regiment was established in 1910, and the Camerons served with distinction in World War I and World War II, including notable battles in Somme, Passchendaele, Dieppe and Normandy.

Dawson wasn’t alone on the bagpipes.

Teenager Matthew Owen-Hunt, who played at last year’s Rose Bowl parade in California, was on hand as the Pop-Up Piper, a program run through the St. Andrew’s Society that gives pipers more public performance hours.

Owen-Hunt took up bagpiping in 2016, crediting his grandmother’s influence for doing so, after initially not having a lot of interest in it.

“It was either bagpiping or drumming, and bagpiping seemed more interesting,” he said after getting his start with the Trancona and District Pipe Band.

Owen-Hunt considers the Scottish community to be booming, with several pipebands and a lot of pipers.

James Munro, the treasurer and membership committee chair at St. Andrew’s Society, said they’d like to see events such as the Kilt Skate and their overall membership become stronger.

“We want to increase the awareness of the Society,” Munro said as he warmed up from his stint skating on the pond. “We also want people to see that the Scottish culture is alive and well here in Winnipeg… and bring our history in the province to the surface.”

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

A few dozen braved the elements on the Duck Pond at Assiniboine Park to mark the annual skate, many using just their leg hair to keep their exposed lower limbs warm as they carved their way across the ice.