2026-27 Figure Skating Season: Complete Competition Calendar

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📖 In this guide

The complete 2026–27 U.S. Figure Skating competition calendar — NQS events from July through October, Sectional and National Finals, U.S. Championships, international competitions, and more. Dates and locations confirmed as of publication.

Jump straight into the calendar

For competitive skating families, the calendar on the refrigerator tells the story of the entire year. This is that calendar for the 2026-27 season — every major U.S. Figure Skating event, from the first National Qualifying Series competition in July through the U.S. Championships next January, with the dates and locations confirmed as of this writing.

Bookmark this page. We update it as U.S. Figure Skating finalizes remaining dates, so it's worth a return visit if you're planning travel or building a season around qualifying events.

How the season is structured

Before the dates, a quick orientation for families newer to the qualifying path. The U.S. competitive season runs on a pipeline:

National Qualifying Series (NQS) → regional and sectional events from July through October, where skaters earn scores to advance. See U.S. Figure Skating's official Qualifying Competitions overview for the full structure.

NQS Finals → in November, the best scores from the series advance to sectional-level finals.

Sectional Finals (Eastern, Midwestern, Pacific Coast) and the U.S. Pairs and Ice Dance Finals → the next tier up, determining who advances toward Nationals.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships ("Nationals") →At the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships, athletes in all disciplines—including ice dance, men’s and women’s singles, pairs, and synchronized skating—are selected to the U.S. National Team based on their performances. National Team members are eligible to represent the United States at major ISU championships, including the Four Continents Championships, the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, and the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. During Olympic seasons, National Team selections also determine eligibility for nomination to the U.S. Olympic Team.

2026-27 National Qualifying Series (NQS)

The NQS runs from July through October 2026, with nearly 1,500 skaters competing across 21 qualifying events in singles, pairs, and ice dance. New this season: juvenile, intermediate, and novice skaters can advance from the NQS Finals to the newly created U.S. Development Team Championships, and preliminary and pre-juvenile singles skaters are now eligible to compete in the NQS itself, with a path to their respective Sectional Finals.

Every confirmed NQS event, sectional final, and major championship for the season is listed in the interactive calendar below — click any event name to visit its official host-club page, or click Add to Calendar to drop it straight into Google, Apple, or Outlook Calendar. Use the button at the top to download the entire season as a single file.

2026-27 Competition Calendar

Official U.S. Figure Skating NQS schedule, sectional finals, national championships & the full ISU international calendar

⬇ Download Full Season (.ics — works with Google, Apple & Outlook Calendar)
July August September October Finals Championships ISU Senior ISU Junior
National Qualifying Series — July 2026
National Qualifying Series — August 2026
National Qualifying Series — September 2026
National Qualifying Series — October 2026
NQS Sectional & U.S. Finals — November 2026
Major Championships — 2026-27 Season
ISU International Calendar — Senior
ISU International Calendar — Junior
U.S. dates sourced from U.S. Figure Skating's official 2026-27 NQS Competition Central and Compete Schedule. International dates sourced from the ISU's official Figure Skating Event Calendar 2026/27. Always confirm exact dates and entry deadlines with the host club, U.S. Figure Skating, or the ISU before booking travel. Calendar reminders are provided as a convenience by Krigor Studio and are not official notifications from any governing body.

All dates above are drawn directly from U.S. Figure Skating's official 2026-27 NQS Competition Central page and Compete Schedule. If your skater is on the NQS path, confirm exact dates and registration deadlines directly with the host club before booking travel — a small number of late-season details (such as exact sectional final days) are finalized closer to the events themselves.

A note on the major standalone events

A few season anchors are worth calling out by name, since they're the ones most families ask about directly:

2026 Skate America (Nov. 13-15, 2026, Everett, WA) is the only ISU Grand Prix event held on U.S. soil this season — a rare chance to see the world's top international skaters compete domestically.

2027 U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Jan. 5-10, 2027, West Valley City, Utah) — "Nationals" returns to Utah for the first time since 1999, at the Maverik Center, the same venue that hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and will host the 2034 Games. All-session tickets are already on sale; juvenile-junior tickets (held separately at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex) go on sale in fall 2026. Official page: 2027 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

2027 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships (April 7-10, 2027) — proof the competitive path doesn't end at eighteen. Location to be confirmed.

All dates are cross-confirmed via U.S. Figure Skating's official Competition Info page.

What about Solo Ice Dance?

For families following the discipline we covered in our Solo Ice Dance guide, the National Solo Dance Series runs its own season across Eastern, Midwestern, and Pacific Coast sections throughout the fall, culminating in the National Solo Dance Final. U.S. Figure Skating had not yet published confirmed 2026-27 Solo Dance Series dates at the time of this writing — check the official U.S. Figure Skating Solo Dance program page for the latest, or use our USFS Test Session Finder for updates relevant to your region. We'll update this section as soon as dates are confirmed.

International calendar: where US National Team competes

For families whose skaters are tracking toward international assignments, or who simply want to watch the world's best, the source of record is the ISU's own Figure Skating Event Calendar 2026/27.

Senior events:

Junior events — relevant for families tracking the junior international pathway:

How to use this calendar if you're new to competing

If your skater hasn't competed before, most of the events above are not where they'll start — and that's exactly right. NQS events, Sectionals, and Nationals are for skaters who have already qualified through tests and prior competitive results. If your family is approaching a first event, start with our guides on what a USFS test session actually involves and preparing for a first competition — both walk through the entry-level path that eventually connects to the calendar above.

For most recreational and developing competitive families, the events that matter are local club competitions and Compete USA events, which aren't centrally calendared the way NQS and Nationals are. Your coach and home rink will have the most current list for your region.

Frequently asked questions

  • The U.S. competitive season runs on a pipeline: National Qualifying Series (NQS) — regional and sectional events from July through October, where skaters earn scores to advance — followed by NQS Finals in November, then Sectional Finals (Eastern, Midwestern, Pacific Coast) and the U.S. Pairs and Ice Dance Finals, leading to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships ("Nationals").

  • The NQS runs from July through October, with nearly 1,500 skaters competing across 21 qualifying events in singles, pairs, and ice dance.

  • 2026 Skate America (Nov. 13-15, 2026, Everett, WA) is the only ISU Grand Prix event held on U.S. soil this season — a rare chance to see the world's top international skaters compete domestically.

  • The 2027 U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Jan. 5-10, 2027) return to Utah for the first time since 1999, at the Maverik Center in West Valley City — the same venue that hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and will host the 2034 Games.

  • No. If your skater hasn't competed before, most NQS, Sectional, and National events are not where they'll start — those are for skaters who have already qualified through tests and prior competitive results. For most recreational and developing competitive families, the events that matter are local club competitions and Compete USA events.

A final thought

A season calendar can look intimidating laid out like this — dozens of events, half the country's rinks involved, a pipeline that takes a skater from a July weekend in Plano, Texas to a January week in Salt Lake City. But every skater on that path started exactly where your skater might be starting now: at a local rink, working on the moves that come before any of this becomes relevant.

Keep this page bookmarked as the season unfolds. We'll update dates as U.S. Figure Skating confirms them, including the remaining NQS events, Solo Dance Series dates, and Sectional Final schedules.

If you're building a competitive season for your skater and want help thinking through which events make sense for their level and goals, we're happy to talk it through.

Krigor Studio, coached by 2-time Olympian Igor Lukanin and Kristen Fraser Lukanin, prepares skaters for every level of USFS competition, from first club events through the qualifying path. Dates in this article reflect official U.S. Figure Skating and ISU announcements as of publication and are subject to change — always confirm directly with the event or governing body before finalizing travel.

Related reading:

Competition & TestingKrigorStudio