Rags & Tatters in the persons of Henry & Rosie, sometimes joined by Steve Harding, always used to do the Dickens Festival as Street entertainers, on a Fee plus collection basis.
Whilst it was usually a good and enjoyable day out, the problem was we were being increasingly given allotted and timed performance spots, sometimes at opposite ends of the town without adequate time to travel between them, carrying instruments and props and fighting our way through the ever increasing crowds.
Coupled with the fact that we would arrive at an appointed spot only to find a non booked performer occupying it or very close, meaning we had to then go in search of an alternative spot. All this meant we were often not where we were supposed to be at the time we were supposed to be there !!and that our performances were sometimes less polished than we would have liked.
Hopefully these problems have been addressed in the intervening years, its certainly a colourful and entertaining event from the "customers" point of view, but was sometimes less than enjoyable from the point of view of the entertainer especially on a wet or cold day !!.