DCHP-2

kitchen party kitchen racket DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Social customs, Atlantic Canada, esp. Prince Edward Island

  informal gathering with music and dancing.

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — A kitchen party is a descendant of the Gaelic ceilidh, originating in Ireland and Scotland (see the 2011 & 2013 quotations). A note in the DPEIE states that

  [t]his word [ceilidh (n.)] has been used since the beginning of settlement on Prince Edward Island for almost any social gathering from a quick visit to a planned entertainment. . . . The word has been popularized by television 'ceilidhs,' beginning in Cape Breton in 1958. (DPEIE, s.v. "ceilidh" (n)).

  A high proportion of immigrants to Atlantic Canada, particularly Cape Breton, NS, and Prince Edward Island were Scottish Gaelic-speakers who continued their traditions, including fiddle music, dancing and storytelling (see the 1986 quotation). Kitchen party is most common on Prince Edward Island (see Chart 1). Now the word has been taken over for a wide array of functions ranging from those held in homes, to more public events, including fund-raisers and jam sessions. The history of the term is much older than shown in the available quotations.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "kitchen party", which is marked "Maritimes", DPEIE, s.v. "ceilidh" (n).

  See also: kitchen racket