Busking Permit fees at Festivals

[harmonicakev]

Entertaining as usual mr. ewen.

as to the original post, it seems like a trivial amount of money your looking to get from these "other" performers. Is it truly going to be worth the hassle? Is there no alternative?
My compliments to you for continuing to present your festival as tough as times are. Good Luck and i hope it all works out.
kevin M

[davidkaye]

Why do orchestras need a conductor? Why do they even exist?

Actually, orchestras don't need conductors. In fact they sound better without them because the musicians are listening to each other, not watching for a baton. I much prefer conductor-less orchestras and ensembles.

[jeep caillouet]

You know i use to work the Eugene country fair outside Eugene, Or. There you could work at the door for a time and that would get you in to the fair . Once in side you pretty much were on your own. But you weren't a stage act. I've also worked 44th street in Westport and by the collage in Lawrence. Where do you put this event on and what time of time year? Jeep

[Daniel Mooncalf]

Jeep. It's on Mass street. August 24-26 this year.

It's probably slightly better than Boulder, tip wise... for that particular weekend.

[Irina]

Lawrence, KS?

That's Lawrence, KS - the home of University of Kansas? We just had Final Four in New Orleans and I painted a lot of these wierd-looking birds on your people...How can you 'struggle financially" putting up a festival in a college-town? They don't let you sell beer? You can't get local bands for the main stage? There is no bank in town to be a sponsor? Students are not gonna come to see just buskers - unless they have children, they want lots of beer and loud music. You make money selling beer, from sponsors, and renting vending space to food and crafts people. You do not make money on entertainment - it is either and expense (stage acts) or a "freebie" (ambience performers, busking acts etc) Actually, succesful buskers are usually paid to come to festivals - at least housing/travel expenses and some sort of daily stipend...It is not a question of ethics - it's just how low can you go? Charging buskers? "OMG, this festival is really lame..." - will say the busking community and the audience, and it's very bad PR. Buskers bring crowd to you, you want them there, and you will not ever get any decent acts if you try to get $$ from them...Get some people together and brainstorm the whole concept. Check out Victoria Buskers festival - that's a jewel of perfect management and great fundraising...

[Richard]

Funny how a simple request for opinions and suggestions leads to "this festival is really lame".
Richard's done an amazing job with introducing a busker fest to the Midwest. Lawrence is a supportive town and so are the people. Who knows, someday they may just block off Mass St. and open up beer gardens for this fest. Until then....

[Irina]

I put this in parentices because that's what people might think, I am not judging it personally because I do not know anything about it...Having a beer garden at a festival is always a good idea, especially in colledge town. I do pay rent at festivals because I charge for my face-painting, and sidewalk artists usually have to pay to participate in festivals, though much less then merchandise vendors. But I never heard about a festival charging buskers who work for tips!

[martin ewen]

Funny how "this festival is really lame", a rhetorical quote, is taken out of context and mistakenly used as a defensive reactionary lynchpin.

The consensus seems to be that charging buskers to work will be difficult. There is very little precedent. The christchurch international festival for a time took a % of their group hats but dropped that. There is often group shows put on at festivals where the performers donate the income to either the festival or some other cause. I don't think this is a financial issue so much as a control issue. You have performers drawn to the outskirts of your controlled envirionment . They are presumably there because you have something they can benefit from or they are displaced by your event. If you provided them a stage under the condition they could volunteer to do a group show at some arranged time with the proceeds going towards your event as a gesture of goodwill in response for your providing the stage then that might appeal to their better natures. If there is no goodwill on their part then simply dispense with them as a viable element and let them play outside your area of control.

[Irina]

Group show is a great idea!

[Richard]

Obviously my internets has parentheses blockers.

[circusboy90210]

festivals...

it seems that buskers work streets and festivals happen on streets. festivals should not have the right to say the busker is exempt from the right to make money off this huge group whilst providing free entertainment in what is a community experience and celebration. at very most for the orginizers might have the right through the fire department to control locations for crowd control purposes.

[Irina]

"OMG! This is so lame!" Classic teenage frase...I though you'll get the joke...Sorry, English is my second language!