Good to see all the response to this subject. I live in Kingston, Ontario, and for the past seven years we've held a "Buskers' Rendezvous" here, sponsored by the Downtown Business Association. It attracts some pretty high-powered acts from out of town, mostly acrobats, jugglers, but with quite a few musical acts. A lot of local musicians and groups get involved, it lasts from Thursday to Sunday, with a grand finale in the waterfront park involving the finalists. The finale is said to attract an audience of about 3000 people. It's a good event, but not buskering in its truest form. I think it;s too structured. The rest of the year, we have a few buskers on the streets. They don't get hassled too much, but the City requires that they have a licence. The enforcement isn't too strict, I think it's there just in case a downtown business person objects to the buskers. I must admit that some of the acts are pretty mediocre, some guy with a 2.00 guitar, three chords and a terrible voice, or else our classic busker, a sadly disadvantaged person with a harmonica and a tambourine.

I'm 65 years old, play a mean bodhran (that's a real busking instrument) and a mediocre tin whistle. My dream is to take off for the summer to some town where nobody knows me, find a lucrative corner and sit and play my whistle all day. Maybe one of these years.

Keep the Faith.

Jack Hickman