(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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(TORONTO) An article at Action Coach Warren has a story on busking that may surprise most.In it, Warren declares his love for buskers. Citing the Toronto Buskerfest as North America's largest, he notes the requirements as being "courage, confidence, good humour and, possibly, a little insanity."

While we usually hear reports from buskers themselves, it's a rare positive review that comes from the edge. Also mentioned is the fact that busking is mostly an urban event and that the love of the city is a necessary.

As Coach Warren observes, "Busking is one of the purest expressions of the entrepreneurial spirit. Buskers work incredibly hard at their craft in an attempt to provide maximum entertainment value. In doing so, they hope to receive maximum value from their audience."

You can...

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(SCOTLAND) Over the past few years, local fringe festivals have taken on a life their own. Although starting small, some have now grown to enormous sizes.Take the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for example. Believe it or not, over 500 buskers and street-performers have registered to perform in the festival making it the world's largest.

"Artists and performers take to hundreds of stages all over the city to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival caters for everyone and includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, a registered charity, is the organization that underpins...

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(LONDON) The humble street performer is no longer a victim of a cashless society. A new digital method called a contactless payment terminal can accept a tip to the busker with the wave of a card.In a test of the new method, patrons were seen waving their credit/debit cards in front of the reader. The project was launched last weekend by the Busk in London organization as a trial. A few performers were seen testing the new transactional device.

Charlotte Campbell, a full-time street performer who was part of the trial, told BBC News that the new tech "had a significant impact on contributions." Said Campbell, "More people than ever tap-to-donate whilst I sing, and often, when one person does, another follows."

The reader needs to be attached to a smartphone or tablet. It is then...

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A new coffee-table book for lovers of Venice Beach Street Performers has just been released.

In case you don't know, Venice Beach is the second most visited tourist area in Southern California with Disneyland being the first.

The writers of the book evidently found a guy who passed the 30 year mark. He was performing when most of today's self-proclaimed "king of the street performers" were still in diapers.

Also included is a humorous story from Mad Chad Taylor on how he first started juggling chainsaws thanks to some goofy commercial maker.

The book includes some killer photos...

Check it out