The CPKC Holiday Train will be making stops and making music in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows this Sunday, Dec. 17.
Each holiday season for 25 years, the brightly-lit train, formerly known as the CP Holiday Train, has travelled across the country from late November until mid December, stopping in communities to offer free concerts, urging support for local food banks during the holiday season.
The train will again stop at Port Haney, across from the Billy Miner Pub at 22355 River Rd. Boxcars will open into stages, and crowds of thousands will be able to watch Tyler Shaw and Kiesza, in a concert scheduled for 8 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
The rolling party will head a short way down the tracks to Pitt Meadows, and at 9:05 p.m. there will be another show at the railway crossing at the corner of Harris and Advent Roads, that will last 30 minutes.
Kiesza is a Canadian singer-songwriter who rose to fame with her breakthrough single “Hideaway” in 2014, which has accrued over a billion streams.
Her debut album “Sound of a Woman” received critical acclaim. 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.
Vancouver’s own Tyler Shaw is a multi-platinum-selling artist, music producer, and actor. He 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, Shaw spearheaded ArtistsCAN with Fefe Dobson to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross COVID-19. This year, Shaw is set to release new holiday music.
CPKC makes a donation to the local food shelf at each stop and encourages attendees to also donate. Last year, CP Rail made contributions of $7,000 to the food bank.
READ ALSO: Food Bank in Maple Ridge struggling to keep up
Evan Seal of the Friends in Need Food Bank said the Holiday Train both a fun event for concert-goers, and an important boost to the food bank, as one of the major donation drives of the holiday season.
“It’s definitely a big event for us,” said Seal.
He noted that demand is up about 35 per cent this year, and the food bank is seeing more working families who need support.
Since its inception in 1999, the CPKC Holiday Train has raised more than $22.5 million and more than 5 million pounds of food for community food banks across North America.
In April, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways combined to create Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).
For more information see cpkcr.com
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Maple Ridge seniors put Canadian spin on Christmas concert
