The CPKC Holiday Train will once again be stopping in Kamloops, Savona, Ashcroft, and Lytton as it crosses Canada in support of local food banks.
The popular holiday event was recently named the “Favourite Winter Activity” in the area at the Excellence in Gold Country awards. It 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 CPKC.
The Holiday Train is now in its 26th year, and this year’s event will feature nearly 200 stops across seven provinces and more than a dozen states between Nov. 21 and Dec. 20. Since its inaugural run in 1999, the Holiday Train has only missed Ashcroft once, and draws up to 1,200 people when it pulls into town.
Attendance at the event is free, although attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, or cash donations, for their local food bank. In its 26 years of operation, the Holiday Train program has raised more than $24.3 million and collected approximately 5.3 million pounds of food for community food banks across North America.
On Wednesday, Dec. 18 the Holiday Train will be in Kamloops (north side of Lorne Street at Sandman Centre) from 5 to 5:30 p.m. It stops in Savona (Savona Access Road at the fire hall) from 7:05 to 7:30 p.m., and rolls into Ashcroft (CPKC station on Railway Avenue) from 8:45 to 9:15 p.m. On Thursday, Dec. 19 the Holiday Train will be in Lytton from 11:30 to 11:55 a.m., at the CPKC TMS building on Station Road. Please note that all times are approximate, so it’s a good idea to be there a few minutes before the scheduled arrival time.
Live music is essential to the Holiday Train experience, and this year’s performers will include Magic! and Sofia Camara, who will be performing in Kamloops, Savona, Ashcroft, and Lytton.
Magic! is a Canadian reggae fusion band, made up of Nasri (singer, guitarist, and producer); Mark “Pelli” Pellizzer, guitarist and keys; and Ben Spivak, bassist. In 2012 the band signed with Latium, Sony, and RCA Records, releasing their first studio album (Don’t Kill the Magic) in 2014, their second album, Primary Colours, in 2016 and their third, Expectations, in 2018. They’re best known for the meteoric hit “Rude”,which went to number one around the world in 2014. In April 2024 the band released their latest album, Inner Love Energy, with ONErpm.
Music is the essence of 20-year-old singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Sofia Camara. The Portuguese-Canadian artist began nurturing her talent using vocal powerhouses like Ariana Grande, Adele, Christina Aguilera, and Bruno Mars as inspirations. Waking up to the rock melodies of Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, and Nirvana that filled her west end Toronto home sparked an early love for musicianship and led to her taking bass, guitar, and piano lessons.
As she began sharing covers on TikTok and YouTube, fans quickly connected with her emotive performances and, before long, she had more than four million likes and a supportive following (including Miley Cyrus, who was a fan of Camara’s cover of “When I Look at You”).
“The Holiday Train unites people in the spirit of the season as it travels across Canada and the United States, while generating critical support for our neighbours in need through the program’s support of local food banks,” says Keith Creel, CPKC president and CEO.
“We are pleased to again send this magical train on a four-week trip across our network spreading holiday joy as we collect food and raise money to fight food insecurity. We look forward to seeing all the smiles and cheers from people young and old coming together in the spirit of giving.”
For a full schedule of the Holiday Train stops in 2024, including more about the performers, go to https://bit.ly/45yh4lx.
