circle shows in Germany and Austria.

[Figo]

Hey hey.

Was wondering if anyone has up to date info on circle show pitches in Germany and Austria. I'm going for 7 weeks and looking to find a decent pitch to work.

Are there any cities where it's a complete no go?

I was thinking specifically Nurnburg, Stuttgart and Linz.

any info greatly appreciated

[Magic Brian]

Figo! I might be there too. Maybe we can find a pitch to work together!

[gav]

Both Nuremberg and Linz have restrictive permit systems in place, even though Linz hosts one of the worlds largest busking festivals every July.
Stuttgart, I don't know. Have been there but didn't try working it. It has a large busy pedestrian shopping street which is dead during summer evenings, but busy in the day.

I'd suggest in summer, smaller towns by large lakes or the seaside might be better.
Regensburg is neither but looks to have a good pitch. Again never worked it, always passing through on transit to a gig. Lot's of tourists and is a university town. Good combo.
Cologne I hear has a good pitch.
I used to work Vienna fairly often and it was boring but paid well. Then they said no amplifiers, no fire and no high apparatus?!. I left and never went back. It was a no permit, battle the breakdancers situation by the church on Stefansplatz.
Had a great show once in the old town of Salzburg. Cops came during and just asked me to turn down my amp, which I did. No problem.

Profitable free and easy pitches are hard to find these days.


If you can't laugh at yourself, find someone else to laugh at you !

[AnalogStreetShow]

Just went up to Kiel for "Kielwoche" it was very, very good during this festival. If you head further east on the coast there are other possibilities like Lubuck(next to the karstadt), Rostock/Warnemunde, several little coastal towns like herringsdorf, bansin etc. on the island of Usedom. These are very close to the Polish border and the Polish town of Schwinemunde, which I would also highly recommend. It wasnt high season and we still pulled 200 zlaty (50 euro) hats all day, which was pretty cool, because we dont speak any Polish. They have a huge promenade and people are walking on it all day and night. Lots of buskers, no regulations.

Hope that helps.

We are looking for any information anyone might have regarding Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden, Koln, and Hannover. We are an acrobatic circle show, and we do use amplification.

[martin ewen]

Bremmen has a wine festival downtown late in the season, there's some big hotel downtown with shops on the lower floors, ground level there's a swanky wine bar, the owner runs the festival, worth a walk in intro chat,

[Chance]

Cologne is an open city, but it has a very strict no amp rule. Only 2 notable large pitches in Cologne: Next to the cathedral, and down at the river bank behind the cathedral. Many small pitches to choose from with lots of walk-by. But amps are forbidden and they are controlled.

[Samora Squid]

I have done street shows on several continents and bunch of countries in said continents over the last 11 years and I have to say that Vienna has the stupidist busking permit system in the world. Last Monday of every month, you have to be there before 12 at the office to get it and they give out limited numbers, so people are queing up from 6am, even though the office doesnt open until 7.30am. The actual license itself is two A4 sheets of paper, outlining a schedule that is randomly selected by the computer, telling you specific times and places you are allowed to perform that month....eg, Karlsplatz, 7th of July, between 1600 and 1800. I played their little game, I jumped through their hoops, I payed my 6 Euros and 84 cents (such a SPECIFIC amount) and it wasnt until I got home that I realised that it has someone else's name name on it. Also, in spite of them photocoying my ID, my photo doesnt actually appear on it, so even if it did have my name on it, I would need to carry aditional ID on me, as well as these two A4 pieces of paper on it, in order to prove that I had the legal right to work this particular pitch. I now have to go back there and ask whether it was only the name they fucked up or whether I now ahve the same schedule as someone else. Typical beurocrats that have never busked in their lives and are trying to organise buskers, thinking they know better. Such bullshit. Pay a busker, not a pen-pushing, number cruncher that has never left his office and only knows the busking sites by name and where they are on the map. Oh and forget about blades, fire or amplification. Not that I need those things to do a decent show, but that basically rules out every other street show from Australia...