YORKTON – Nothing signals the start of the holiday season more than a morning where the windchill pushed temperatures below minus-30, and the CPKC Holiday Train arrived in the city.
Now in its 27th year the train is a visual representation of the holiday season that always creates many smiles.
But of course the train which rolled into Yorkton Saturday morning was of course on a rather serious mission as well.
The CPKC Holiday Train is also about raising money, food and awareness to support food banks across the country. This year a donation of $4,000 was made locally.
For those who braved the frosty weather there were free hot dogs courtesy of the Yorkton Tribal Council, and hot chocolate courtesy of the Bentley, both of which were a nice compliment to the live entertainment of the train, with performances by Jade Eagleson and Teigen Gayse.
“Teigen Gayse is rapidly establishing herself as one of the most exciting new talents in Canadian country music. As an independent artist, she has achieved back-to-back Top 30 radio singles, including one that peaked at #21, while amassing over 10 million global streams and 48 million TikTok views,” detailed the Train’s website.
“In 2024, Teigen dominated the British Columbia Country Music Awards, winning Female Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Interactive Artist of the Year. She also earned a nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year from the Canadian Country Music Association.
“Since debuting his self-titled album in 2020, Jade has amassed over 335 million global streams and 130 million YouTube views. His debut holds four GOLD and two PLATINUM-certified singles and stands as the most globally streamed debut album by an internationally-signed country artist in history. Jade has also scored five #1 hits at Canadian Country Radio. His sophomore album produced three ‘gold’ and one ‘platimun’-certified tracks, while his third album, Do It Anyway, added two more gold and one platinum single to his collection.
“Jade kicked off 2025 with his fourth JUNO nomination and recently earned the title of 2025 Male Artist of the Year at the CCMA Awards, following wins for 2024 Album of the Year and 2023 Entertainer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year.”
The Holiday Train is currently touring Canada and the U.S. (Nov. 19 through Dec. 21)
Since its inaugural journey in 1999, the CPKC Holiday Train has raised more than $26 million and collected approximately 5.4 million pounds of food for community food banks in Canada and the U.S.
