Gatecrashers: The World Buskers Festival is being gatecrashed by street performers eager to cash in on the crowds attracted by the popular Christchurch event.

Heymoonshaker, a guitar and beatboxing act, set themselves up on a street corner yesterday afternoon to take advantage of the crowds.

"If the festival is a boat, then we are on skis behind it trying to get as much out of it as we can," gatecrashing British beatboxer Crowe said.

British travellers Crowe and guitarist Andrew Balcon met in Nelson and decided to perform in Christchurch to raise money for their world travels.

"We thought we would be able to perform in between sets in the Square, but they wouldn't let us," Balcon said.

Festival director Jodi Wright has taken a liberal approach to the busker pilot fish cruising in the wake of the festival shark.

"It is too hard to try to police them. Unless...

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Buskers all over the world can help set a world record Sunday, June 14th, 2009 by busking locally at 12 noon for 25 minutes.

More information here

Busking as a musician means being vulnerable. You're standing on the pitch putting yourself out there in front of strangers exposing your personal life. Rarely do you hear any encouraging words.Although singing lifts your spirits, not all buskers sing. We perform songs that inspired us without getting any feedback on a deeper level. To get through hard times, we need to occasionally hear positive words. Mere money in the hat doesn't actually say much except that it's a reflection of appreciation.

The following are 9 things every musician loves to hear from fans, family, friends, and the public. Believe it or not, you're actually making an impact on society regardless of where you are performing.

Follow the link below for a tongue-in-cheek revelation.
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(THE NETHERLANDS) An article at TheCityAtEyeLevel.com in the Netherlands has published an article portraying busking as a viable means of rejuvenating city streets. Some city's methodology include Glasgow, Melbourne, and Singapore."Busking is at risk of being licensed out of existence, with permit systems, auditions, fees, written application processes, equipment bans, scheduling and branding making the spontaneous, surprising art in public spaces a thing of the past."

The article goes on to discuss street performing policy, proposed permit systems, and a starters guide to encouraging busking in your city.

Many buskers prefer to be self-regulated but there are always a few who abuse this type of system. This can lead to public disputes where there is strong disagreement.

For more info,...

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(COSTA RICA) San Jose has buskers singing the blues. Avenida Blues, a traditional blues band in Costa Rica, is finding national resistance to their style of music and performing. The buskers have been working for the past months filming their performances on the streets, issues with police, and concerts at large national festivals in the country.Due to severe lack of interest of the blues in Costa Rica, they are trying to get exposure with the international blues community. With different administration changes, the police have taken down several artists, jailed some others, and have confiscated equipment. A strike in January resulted in a movement called "Nuestra Calle" when there was the reported abuse of power by local authorities in the arrest of a sax player.

The Avendia blues band has been working hard...

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