CPKC Holiday Train set to make one-day stop at Gage Park in Hamilton

The Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Holiday Train, featuring 14 railcars decorated with thousands of lights, returns to Hamilton on Wednesday night.

The train, which also features music performances from Canadian act Kiesza and Australian country music duo Seaforth, arrives Nov. 22 around 7:45 p.m. beside Lawrence Road just south of Gage Park.

A fundraiser on rail, the procession travels across Canada and the United States raising money, food and awareness for food banks.

It’s an important event for Hamilton Food Share who recently revealed bank usage has shot up 40 per cent across Hamilton in 2023.

Resource development manager Ashley Mitchell says they’ll be on hand to collect local monetary and non-perishable food donations.

“Things like canned meats and beans and vegetables, rice and pasta, pasta sauces, all that kind of items are definitely important,” Mitchell says.

The holiday train will feature some 190-plus performances on a tour that takes it across six provinces and 14 states over the next week.

More than $22.5 million and five million pounds of food have been collected since the first tour in 1999.

Hamilton Police says Lawrence Road will close between Cumberland and Kensington avenues from 4:30 p.m. to approximately 10:00 p.m.