How to Organize a Busking Fest?

[Sora Sol]

Hi everyone! I and a couple other people are trying to start a busking festival in Syracuse, NY. While we are all professional performers, we are not used to being on the organizing side, so we're a bit out of our comfort zones here, but we think this would bring a lot of much-needed culture to the city.

Any tips, tricks, general suggestions from you wizened street performers out there? Also, are there any pre-existing threads that might give us some more information?

Thanks so much!

[Isabella]

Let's talk when I'm back from SA Next week.

Biggies - sponsorship. Hotels and food for performers. Good press releases. Free to audience. Food booths. Good volunteers to help run it. A green room/storage place for gear.

[Sora Sol]

Thank you, Isabella! Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Safe travels home from SA!! Can't wait to hear your fabulous stories!

[GlassHarper]

I started out busking at a weekly farm market in a bank parking lot on Salina Street back in the '90's. They were always able to find a pitch for me and I appreciated it even though the hats were pretty meager. Certainly one of the important things is for you to cover your political bases: make sure you include the police dept. in your planning and it certainly would be helpful if you have contacts with the mayor's office and members of the City Council.
Visit nearby "Busker's Fests," such as those in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the HarborFest in Owego (Oswego??). Best of luck to you, Syracuse needs an education on the value of street performance!