A veteran Nanaimo busker claims she is being told by the Port of Nanaimo to conform to busking rules along the waterfront, without knowing exactly what those rules are.

Cathy Davis said she's been told by the Port that they regulate all busking on the federally owned property. She also said she's been told that there have been complaints about her and others who have joined her busking at the waterfront.

Last month Davis sent an e-mail to Mike Davidson, property manager at the Port, asking him to list the nature of the complaints, without revealing who made them. Davis has so far received no reply.

Davidson told the Daily News in an Oct. 2 story that the Port issues its own special permits. Davis said she has also heard nothing back from Davidson about getting such a permit.

Davidson did not return calls to the Daily News on Wednesday.

While the weather is now too foul for busking,...

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(YORK) City Halls often see busking as a potential problem to be managed and restricted. The victory with the York City Council resulted in a document designed to encourage and welcome buskers from all over the world.An online petition was started by the Keep Streets Live Campaign. It was signed by over 4000 people and called on York to scrap their restrictive policy and work with the busking community to produce new guidance. It seems while one town is outlawing busking and street performing, another is begging for buskers to revitalize their historic and shopping districts.

The York document may influence London's policy that criminalizes street musicians. A campaign has been set up to challenge it and protect Britain's public spaces. The Camden dispute has organized buskers consulting in the House of Lords, taking the...

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(ENGLAND) Busker and supply teacher Phil Gray was happily busking away when a passerby casually took the hat off Gray's head and disappeared.It all seemed to be a joke until the grim reality set in. The hat was gone - never to be returned.

Fortunately, an audience member was shooting a video with his cell phone of Gray performing when the incident occurred.

Gray claims the creep who stole his hat had talked with him several times earlier in the day.

In the video, you actually see the crime committed. The thief was later picked up but no hat was to be found.

Full story and video

(CAMDEN TOWN) Holy guacamole! Camden has banned amplified street music and now requires unplugged performers to buy licenses.With the help of the Great Golden Kazoo in the sky, buskers have formed a church to sidestep the new busking laws. The Church of the Holy Kazoo has just been formed in the nick of time by buskers exercising the human right to "preach" in public.

It all started when Buskers staged a "street jam" in the heart of Camden to protest against the controversial new rules to license busking in the borough. Street performer Jonny Walker came up with the idea after Camden council's new laws required buskers to pay for licenses. He realized that street preaching is protected under freedom of expression laws so he set up the Church of the Holy Kazoo. It means Jonny...

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(SHANGHAI) For the first time in modern Chinese history, buskers and street-performers may be able to perform their art without being stopped. "We'll be the first city in China to open arms to street-side performers," said Luo Huaizhen, a playwright who for the last eight years has urged the Shanghai People's Congress to allow street performers.

Shanghai residents will be able to see artists and performers doing creative shows in public spaces for the first time since the World Expo in 2010 when it was temporarily allowed. China has forbidden buskers because crowds gather possibly leading to discussions concerning the government.

Busker Central noticed a few years ago when the Chinese government started draining the street-performer website with useless connections. It has since had to block China...

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