I have found that the traders and street entertainers have driven away the more casual get togethers on the esplanade during the afternoons - they are just too agressive in their take over of the area, and make it obvious that it is their pitch for making money from.

I used to enjoy being able to wander into a quiet spot and start playing, but it really isn't worth the effort so I haven't bothered for some years now.

What really took the biscuit was having someone come up and try to extract money from people standing round where I was playing.