Juno week will feature C-Trains filled with live music at lunchtime
Robson Fletcher, Kate Adach | CBC News | Posted: March 28, 2016 7:31 PM | Last Updated: March 30, 2016
Canadian music awards expected to generated $11M to $12M in economic activity for Calgary
Live music will fill C-Train cars every day this week ahead of the Juno Awards.
Calgary Transit will welcome busking musicians from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both lines of the LRT system.
"It will be a full trip on the train, so they'll get on at the end of a line and ride through the entire city playing music for Calgarians," said transit director Doug Morgan. "As people get on and off, it'll be a bit of surprise for them."
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Mayor Naheed Nenshi took a ride Monday on a car where passengers were serenaded by Steel & Timber, a local band that got its start through jam sessions in Edworthy Park before coalescing into a three-piece folk group.
"I really encourage people to get on the train during the lunch hour this week and listen to some great music," Nenshi said.
The C-Train shows will be part of more than 150 live performances at venues across the city in the lead-up to the Canadian music awards being presented on Sunday, said Marco De Iaco, chair of the Juno Awards host committee.
"Buskers on the C-Train today are one of many initiatives we have making music accessible to all Calgarians in all four corners of our city," he said.
The awards could generate between $11 million and $12 million in economic activity in Calgary, De Iaco noted.
"We expect a number of downtown hotels to be very full and restaurants and bars and taxicabs will be very busy over the next few days," he said.
The Junos were last held in Calgary in 2008.