Great Scott! Forget UFOs – scores of skating Scotsmen will be flying around in North Vancouver next weekend.
On Saturday, Feb. 18, The Shipyards Skate Plaza will host B.C.’s first showing of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate. Starting at 8:30 p.m., anyone is invited to grab a kilt or tartan and join a show appreciation for Scotland’s contribution to Canada.
It’s a free event, but capacity is limited and registration is required.
The core group of participants will be skating for an hour, according to Mike Chisolm, executive director of ScotFestBC. “Almost everyone will be in kilts.”
The skate will be lead off by a bagpiper and there’s a good chance there could be more of the distinctly Scottish-sounding instrument, because some members of the SFU Pipe Band might show up, Chisolm added.
“There'll be Celtic music and lots of people skating for an hour just enjoying skating in the kilt and celebrating Scottishness and [being] Canadian,” he added.
Registration has been filling up faster than the organizers anticipated. Capacity for the rink is 100 people, and around 80 people had registered by Tuesday afternoon.
People who aren’t able to register are welcome to join in viewing areas around the outdoor rink. There will be hot chocolate, and the kilted contingent will likely wander afterwards to a local watering hole or two nearby.
The Scottish Society of Ottawa launched the first kilt skate on Jan. 31, 2015 to mark the bicentennial birthday of Canada’s first prime minister, John A. Macdonald. Since then, other cities have joined in – 15 are participating this year.
