Saskatoon Fringe Festival allowing buskers again
Buskers can play at the Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival again, after organizers changed their mind on a busking ban they had imposed on this year's event.
The streets around festival venues had been quieter than in past years when this year's festival began on Thursday, as a result on the ban on streetside entertainment.
But after getting complaints about the lack of energy on the streets, organizers are inviting buskers back, provided the performers buy a licence for $35 and play only in designated areas.
"If you want to bring your acoustic instrument down to the Fringe and do as you did last year, then we're inviting people to do so," festival producer Robert Wyma told CBC News.
Scott Bartlett, who has been selling samosas and shrimp at the festival for more than 20 years, said the vibrant atmosphere of past Fringe festivals had been muted during the last few days because of the busker ban.
"Oh, it's ghostly quiet. People are whispering. You don't whisper at the Fringe, you know?" he said with a chuckle.
Bartlett said he hopes the move to allow street performers again will turn the quiet streets into the party he remembers.
