Latest news with #busking
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Birmingham busking crackdown given green light
Plans to crack down on busking and street preaching in Birmingham city centre have been given the green a bid to tackle "excessive noise levels" in some streets, a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) will be introduced by the council, with a ban on using amplification equipment and musical instruments applying on the roads covered by the order will include Victoria Square, New Street, Temple Street, Cannon Street, Needless Alley and part of Waterloo unnamed busker had told a consultation it would make Birmingham the country's "least friendly city" for street performance. The order will focus on noise associated with busking, street entertaining, street preaching and public speaking affecting people living in the area and residents trying to relax at home and landlords attempting to let properties were being impacted, the council said this year. 'Better ways' Labour councillor Nicky Brennan said for some residents who may have sensory sensitivities, noise levels that were too loud could "cause increased anxiety, stress and mental fatigue".Conservative councillor Ewan Mackey said businesses in the city centre were "equally important" as Liberal Democrat Deborah Harries said: "Does Birmingham really want to be a city culturally that is […] not really interested in doing anything to protect its musical heritage in terms of The Crown [pub] and Station Street and bans the busker?"There must be better ways than this absolute hammer to crack a nut."The council's deputy leader, Labour's Sharon Thompson, said it was not true nothing was being done with regards to the pub known as the birthplace of Black said she knew "we are doing things around Station Street".Several businesses backed the PSPO plan with some telling how city centre busking was taking a toll on workers and driving away customers.A number of buskers said compromises could be reached, with one suggesting the council adopted a model similar to that of Busk in London with respect to basic council director of regulation and enforcement Sajeela Naseer said London had a "specific piece of legislation".Cabinet members approved the declaration of the PSPO and that officers should explore the feasibility of a 'consent/permitting scheme' for city centre busking. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Irish Times
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
I tried to get my children to busk. I'll never learn. Vicarious living through your children does not work
Dublin's great in 88. That's how the slogan went. Dowdy, dirty, recession-addled Dublin. And it was great. I was 17. The late Carmencita Hederman was our mayor, Frank Feely bestrode the Corpo like a colossus. We had these souvenir milk bottles and a 70-foot Gulliver, an actual colossus, lying down on Dollymount Strand. I mean, looking back, the timing of these millennium celebrations was questionable. The date was even disputed. Dublin was supposed to have been founded by the Vikings in 841, according to my historian colleague Ronan McGreevy. But, sure, any excuse for a party. And the millennium was some hooley. That's my memory of it anyway. My fleeting career as a busker began in the summer of 1988. The Millennium Busking Competition had a prize of a music voucher for McCullough Piggot music shop and me and my friend Marie felt like having a go. She was a singer but neither of us had busked before. We had three songs: Ticket to Ride by the Beatles, 20 Flight Rock by Eddie Cochrane and another one lost to the mists of my cider-doused 80s brain. My mousy brown hair had been recently dyed white blond. I had an off-the-shoulder polka dot dress, a face full of Pale Biscuit Rimmel foundation and the kind of brass neck you only have at 17. The Hothouse Flowers were out and about that year too, returning to their busking origins on Grafton Street to promote their new album People, a classic. It's playing as I type this, blaring from a phone and a streaming platform my 17-year-old self with all her dreams and cassette tapes would think was some kind of voodoo magic. READ MORE There's a news report online from 1988 where an RTÉ reporter asks the crowd gathered outside HMV what they think of the Hothouse Flowers. 'They're different, they're original, they dress well, they're fantastic,' a red-haired young teenager who looks like someone I went to school with is saying. Two other school girls in uniform reckon 'they've lovely clothes and they're all gorgeous'. Another older woman is not impressed by Liam and Fiachna and friends. 'They're scruffy, dirty lookin',' she says. Well, you can't please everyone, especially not in Dublin, not in 88 or now, for that matter. [ Fiachna Ó Braonáin of Hothouse Flowers: 'I was quite disappointed by Bono. I don't think Sinéad O'Connor would have done it' Opens in new window ] The cheek of us entering a busking competition the first day we ever busked. I can only imagine how irritating it must have been for everyone else, the seasoned buskers who knew way more than three songs, that we won. But that's what happened by some kind of millennium miracle. I look back now, at my tambourine, my polka dot dress and I hardly recognise myself. But she's in there somewhere, that 17-year-old. And in her head, she's still got it. She's a 50-something, who still fancies herself as a musician. She's got a ukulele and she's not afraid to use it. And she is keen to pass on her wisdom to the next generation. In other words, she's been badgering her teenage daughters about the possibility they might earn some summer cash by busking. It's not been going down well. They are 16. They can sing far better than I ever could. They harmonise like a dream. But as I have discovered, you can lead a couple of teenagers to Grafton Street, buy them a guitar, pay for lessons, sheet music, capos and plectrums but you cannot make them busk. Apparently, if you go busking in Dublin in 2025 you might see someone you know from school and life as you know it would cease and the world crumble into a bleak, black nothingness. There would be no survivors from this mortifapocalypse. Zero. People by the Hothouse Flowers is playing from the magic machine. A song called The Older I Get. A much younger Liam is singing the truth that feels even more truthy now that we're both that bit older. 'The old they can't reach us, their ways are not ours, though they furrowed our futures, our freedom they bore'. Last week we went to Lahinch where the sea shines like a jewel and I tried to get them to busk on the promenade seeing as it was unlikely they'd bump into anyone from school there. No joy. None. I will never learn. Vicarious living through your children does not work. Cannot work. It is not supposed to work. Future furrowing is fruitless. Their ways are not ours. They will be moved or gravitate towards the things that make their own hearts sing. Not mine. [ Buskers of Dublin: 'I love playing here because the quality of the sound is amazing' Opens in new window ] But that doesn't have to stop myself and my brother Michael. Apologies to anyone who was passing by The Flaggy Shore last Sunday. My brother, who like me fancies himself as a bit of an undiscovered rock star, could be heard singing the whole of Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits accompanied by my daughter on guitar. She had never heard the song before, so fair play. Is Romeo & Juliet hard to sing? Yes. Did that stop my brother? No. Sitting out in the sunshine we also did Creep by Radiohead and Common People by Pulp and Rainy Night in Soho by The Pogues. Passersby occasionally stopped as if to while away a moment listening until they realised this was amateur night at the busking festival and moved quickly on. We didn't care. We were singing for our past selves. We were singing like nobody was listening. Which nobody was. Just as well.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Reading buskers given official guidance for performing
Buskers in a town centre will have to comply with a code of conduct to Borough Council has backed guidance for performers after a consultation and "feedback" gathered by Reading Business Improvement District (BID).The authority said the town's atmosphere was "often enhanced by talented buskers", but some can "detract rather than enhance" people's visits.A guide has been released that details how buskers and businesses can work together to "understand how they can add to the vibrancy" to Reading. The guidance states: "Buskers and street performers should consider their intended presence, performance and location carefully to avoid generating unnecessary complaints."Songs should not be repeated and performers should be considerate with the volume used."Reading BID has released the document as part of anti-social behaviour (ASB) awareness Alexa Volker said: "We hope that busking brings and added benefit to your visit, but we do know from some negative feedback that sometimes it doesn't and sometimes the noise levels can be too high."This is why we have worked with the council and done a public and business consultation that has pulled together a guide that we have been using with businesses and with our local buskers." Ms Volker said the aim of the guide was to help businesses understand buskers "are a great addition to our town"."We hope this guide will help buskers tone down their volume and also for our retailers to be able to engage with those buskers, just so that each can understand how they can add to the vibrancy of our town centre." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook and X.
CNA
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Not just lip service: The ventriloquists striving to keep the art form alive
Ms Faith Chong, 28, said she wants to make a living from "talking to myself". As a budding ventriloquist, she showcases her talent on video-sharing platform TikTok and also on the streets, busking once a month with her beloved puppets Josie and Gavin. The digital ambassador with a government agency has dreams of turning professional, hoping to use her talent of "speaking without moving my lips" to keep people entertained. One ventriloquist who has made the move to becoming professional is Mr Joseph Then, 48, who earns his living performing for school groups, for example. "Ventriloquism is a sub-niche," Mr Then said. He was a magician before becoming a professional ventriloquist more than 15 years ago. When he made the switch, he was hoping his voice would help him stand out, but he has become so successful that he needs a warehouse to store his dozens of puppets.
CTV News
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Barrie shines spotlight on local talent as applications open for busking program
Barrie is shining the spotlight on local talent as applications open up for this year's busking program. Musicians, magicians, poets and performers, are invited to apply for a free permit to busk along the waterfront and in the downtown area. The list of designated busking zones around Barrie include: Dunlop Street between Maple Avenue, Mulcaster Street, Meridian Place, Heritage Park, the Marina, Centennial Park and many more. This special program works together with the Emerging Artist Program in an effort to animate downtown Barrie. Busker permits are required for all performances happening on city property where the performer is accepting tips from the public. Obtaining your permit is free and people of all ages are encouraged by the city to apply. Performances involving fire or sharp objects are not permitted in Barrie. Talent will need to provide full contact information, details on the performance type, and a certificate of insurance in order to secure a busking permit. Applications will be accepted into the fall. To learn more about the program and to apply, click here.
