The CP Holiday Train will have a slightly different name this year when it rolls into Kamloops on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. and Ashcroft at 8:35 p.m. as part of its cross-country tour.
The popular holiday event features two trains decorated with tens of thousands of lights, which travel two different routes and stop at locations across Canada and the United States. Musicians perform live at each venue, and the local food bank receives a cheque from CP, which is now CPKC following Canadian Pacific’s merger with Kansas City Southern Railway Co.
This year’s CPKC Holiday Train will be its first under the new name. Now in its 25th year, the event will feature 191 stops across six provinces and 14 states. Since its inaugural run in 1999, the Holiday Train draws up to 1,200 people when it pulls into town in Ashcroft.
Attendance at the event is free, although attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, or cash donations, for their local food bank (and bear in mind that since food banks buy in bulk and often get discounts, cash donations can go further in helping those in need). In its 25 years of operation, the Holiday Train program has raised $22.4 million and collected 5.15 million pounds of food for community food banks across North America.
In addition to the Ashcroft stop (near the CP building on Railway Avenue between 5th and 6th; the show is scheduled to start at 8:45 p.m.), on Dec. 16 the Holiday Train will also be stopping at Kamloops (5 p.m., north side of Sandman Centre on Lorne Street) and Savona (7:05 p.m., Savona Access Road near the fire hall). On Dec. 17 the Holiday Train will be in Lytton (11:30 a.m., CPKC TMS building on Station Road).
Live music is essential to the CP Holiday Train experience, and this year’s performers will include Tyler Shaw and Kiesza, who will be performing in Kamloops, Savona, Ashcroft, and Lytton.
Tyler Shaw is a multi-platinum-selling artist, music producer, and actor. The Chinese-Canadian artist, originally from Vancouver, quickly hit platinum sales in 2012 with his first hit song. His music has been nominated for multiple JUNO Awards, and he has opened for massive international artists, including Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara, and toured with Selena Gomez. In 2021, Tyler spearheaded ArtistsCAN with Fefe Dobson to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross COVID-19, and this year is set to release new holiday music.
Kiesza is a Canadian singer-songwriter known for her dynamic music career. She rose to fame with her breakthrough single “Hideaway” in 2014, which has accrued more than one billion streams. Her debut album, Sound of a Woman, received critical acclaim, highlighting her eclectic musical style. The Canadian multi-hyphenate also has a foot in the fashion world, serving as the face of campaigns for top brands like Fendi and Maison Birks. After a life-changing car crash put her on a two-year hiatus, Kiesza has returned as an independent artist, releasing her sophomore album CRAVE through her label Zebra Spirit Tribe in 2020.
After returning to the rails in 2022 for its first cross-continent tour in three years, following virtual concerts in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the Holiday Train drew exceptional crowds and thousands of people to the free concerts in the 168 communities it visited.
“We are overjoyed with the support we received from people across the CP network who came together to celebrate the season while braving the elements in support of their community and those in need,” said CP President and CEO Keith Creel at the close of the 2022 event.
“We are reminded how important the CP Holiday Train program is for communities and we were thrilled to be back in support of the critical work that local food banks do across Canada and the United States.”
For a full schedule of the Holiday Train stops in 2023, go to https://bit.ly/45yh4lx. You can also view a video about this year’s event, and find out more about the musicians who will be performing along the way.
