(SEATTLE) Believe it or not, buskers can end up in the strangest of good fortune. It's happened before and it will happen again. All it takes are some good busking skills and a little luck.Enter Whitney Monge - a busker in Seattle's famed Pike Place market. She soon found herself making more money busking than working at the big corporate coffee shop down the street.

Whitney spent over eight years at the market and, although having moved on, still considers it "100% home". She also had to weather the pandemic experience.

What's Whitney doing these days? Nothing much - just singing and playing guitar with the Seattle symphony as part of their Essential Series.

Check out the interview and video at KNKX public radio station's website through the link below.

...

[ Continued ]

(MASSACHUSETTS) Beginning today, the fair city of Cambridge is making it easier for performing artists to express themselves. The city wants more buskers so it's eliminating permit fees. The Cambridge Arts Council announcement is meant to offer more opportunities for artists to showcase their talents without having to pay a fee.Believe it or not, one doesn't even have to be a resident. It's open to all. The only slight catch is they want to see your act first before they waive the $40 fee. The performers must stick to the city’s street busker ordinance which sets parameters on performance times, locations, and noise.

The process just highlights the differing states of confusion when it comes to busking and street performing. While one city is busy regulating and restricting - even outlawing busking, t...

[ Continued ]

(CHATTANOOGA) New liberal rules favor buskers and street performers in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Over 50 musicians have registered to participate. The musicians include guitarists, cellists, singers, keyboardists and a person who plays a didgeridoo, the wind instrument developed by indigenous Australians about 1,500 years ago.It's all part of SoundCorps' new Sidewalk Stages program. Each of the 15 to 30 musicians who are scheduled to perform two-hour sets from Friday through Sunday is paid $25 by SoundCorps. They also get to keep any tips they make. Those tips are averaging between $40 and $70.

Buskers can perform in public places, such as sidewalks, pedestrian bridges and the parks between them. There are some minimal rules. Performing under the influence and substance abuse is not permitted.

You'll...

[ Continued ]

(TAIPEI) Busking is a thriving art in Taipei - a city that is busy promoting Taiwanese street performances featuring modern and traditional elements. In Taipei City alone, there are 59 public places now open to street performers including parks, commercial plazas, and a number of metro stations.

Besides Vieshow Square, the Ximending area in western Taipei and the Tamshui Metro station near the northwest coast of New Taipei City are also renowned busking sites.

Born from this success, the Taiwan Buskers Development Association was created whose mission is to fight for more street performance space, advocate buskers job rights, and keep the traditional arts alive.

The talents of these street performers range from portraiture, singing, acrobatics and juggling to posing as living statues, magic tricks, street dancing,...

[ Continued ]

(TOURISM) Museums, theaters, galleries – The world’s cities are full of attractions they promote to lure visitors.However, even streets can become important landmarks attracting tourists from afar. The very least we can do is try to busk them all.

Below is a list compiled by Tourism-Review.com on their top 10 most popular streets in the whole wide world.

Champs Elysées - Paris
La Rambla - Barcelona
Fifth Avenue - New York
Appian Way - Rome
Magnificent Mile - Chicago
Gran Vía - Madrid
Wall Street - New York
Lombard Street - San Francisco
Zeil - Frankfurt
Váci Utca - Budapest


Full story