Saskatoon Kilt Skate to be followed by World's Largest Snowball Fight

They know how to do things right in Saskatoon! As a finale to the PotashCorp Wintershines Festival, Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate will be followed by an attempt to break the Guinness world record for the world's largest snowball fight.  Will any of the kilt skaters join the battle? A sporran would make a great place to store snowballs -- much more practical than pockets.

Members of Team Canada for the world Yakigassen championship will lead Saskatoon's efforts to break the record for the world's biggest snowball fight.

The kilt skate takes place at the Cameco Meesawin Skaters Lodge from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, January 31. Within easy walking distance, the giant snowball fight takes place at Victoria Park from 3-5 p.m., in conjunction with the festival's closing ceremonies.

Yukigassen is the Japanese word for "snow battle."  Two teams of seven players battle each other. Each player continues the battle until eliminated by being hit by a snowball. In January 2013, the current record for the largest Yukigassen was established at the Seattle Snow Day, with 5,834 participants.

Will Saskatoon beat that record? According to a story in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Nathan Thoem of Canada's national Yukigassen team would like to "really just blow this thing out of the water" with six or 7,000 people. Here's Nathan talking about how important it is to take the world record away from the United States and bring it back to Canada.

Meanwhile, the Saskatoon Highland Dancing Association is moving ahead with its plans to provide shortbread and hot chocolate to skaters who will join them for the 2nd Annual Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate.

Go Saskatoon!

At Saskatoon's 2015 kilt skate, a piper braved the 35-below temperatures. This year, the weather forecast looks more promising.