Railtown Carnival entertains public outside former CPR station
By Nelson Daily Staff
The foot of Baker Street was a busy, happening place Saturday afternoon as the Railtown Carnival arrived in Nelson for the the third in the series of public dance events.
Saturday’s event included the Baker Street Blues Band playing a couple of sets of music from the stage as well as roving and stage performances by the Front Street Cabaret Dancers, Circus Acts Insomniacs, aerial acrobatics, stilt walkers, puppetry and more.
“The CPR Flats and historic Railway Station was chosen as a site for this project because it is a significant cultural reminder of Nelson’s economic roots,” said Stephanie Fischer, Executive Director of the Capitol Theatre.
“We also want to celebrate the many generations that have inhabited this place and made use of its resources long before the train track was laid down.”
Fischer said Indigenous people used the Flats for millennia as a seasonal settlement for fishing, access to hunting and a plant food gathering grounds.
The low-lying riverside geographic location of the Flats also briefly provided agricultural use as a Chinese market garden, prior to the industrial expansion in the 1900s.
Project partners Front Street Dance, Dance Fusion and Dance Umbrella studios have all collaborated on choreographed pieces that respond to the history and our emotional connectedness to specific geographic locations throughout town. This project is supported by the Government of Canada.
