Kansas City Toy Train Streetcar Holiday Jam Plays To Smaller Crowd

Like it or not . . . Despite juiced and mostly fake ridership numbers . . . 

Kansas City's streetcar is mostly empty for any locals who bother looking at it during the weekday. 

Weekends are even more desolate.

We'd all like to imagine shoppers and visitors crowding downtown like the old days . . . But the fact is that Amazon and a vast array of strip malls across the metro have rendered downtown shopping a nearly forgotten memory of the past.

And still . . . A toy train publicity stunt persists in spite of consumer habits and reality.

Check the dutifully reported local propaganda . . .

Since 2017, musicians have performed on the Streetcar between about Thanksgiving and Christmas — with a two-year break during the pandemic. 2023 performances wrapped up this week.

“I know the holidays can be very stressful, but we try and bring a little bit of levity to it, and joy,” said Streetcar Authority Communications Director Donna Mandelbaum. She said the shows often amount to an unexpected treat for holiday shoppers.

“The vibe on the Streetcar, especially on Saturdays, is very high-energy; lots of families, lots of smiling faces,” she said. “Maybe they just came from Union Station, or they're going to Crown Center or City Market.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City Streetcar's Holiday Jam isn't just a musical surprise - it's an annual agent of joy

Since 2017, the Kansas City Streetcar Holiday Jam brings live music and local musicians to crowds of tourists and shoppers traveling between Union Station and River Market.