The International Busking Festival will take place Saturday, Dec. 12, on Fifth Street. The festival encourages local busking artists to assemble for an evening of street performance entertainment.
Lawn Gnome Publishing and artists Marissa Melon and Zachary Vanasse are hosting the free event in conjunction with the Phoenix Festival of the Arts and the Phoenix Center for the Arts.
Busking is the act of performing in public places. The performances can include playing music, acrobatics, magic, street art and others.
“We’re trying to bring street performing back to Phoenix that was there years ago and support the arts community,” Melon said.
Former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon took steps to encourage busking in downtown Phoenix after he was impressed with the buskers he saw when he visited Santa Monica, California, in 2005, according to the event’s Facebook page. He dubbed Adams Street “Performance Street” and encouraged street performers to showcase their talents to visitors and employees of downtown Phoenix.
While some buskers may gain fame, most artists are just making a living showcasing their talents in a face-to-face setting.
“If you have a couple dollars, or even a pocket of full of change, come out and throw a dollar or two into a couple of hats or suitcases this weekend,” said Aaron Johnson, owner of Lawn Gnome Publishing. “It really makes a difference in someone’s life who uses busking as a means of their well-being and it enables more people to be creative, encourages the creative process and having face-to-face interactions on the street.”
Attendees can expect to see singers, musicians, sideshow performers, aerialists and acrobatics, Melon said. The festival is open to any sort of busking, whether the street performers are veterans or just beginning.
“We have lots of first-time performers and artists who have never been busking before that will be playing music and entertaining in the streets,” Johnson said. “We only ask that performers do not sit too close to another performer and that there is no amplification.”
Jero Keenom, who will perform as Jero the Jester this Saturday, is a veteran busker who has been doing street performance for about five years. He began busking in downtown Phoenix outside restaurants and by the Orpheum Theatre, entertaining people as they waited in line by the box office.
Keenom had words of encouragement for those interested in getting a start in busking.
“The best advice I could give to someone new to street performing? Three simple words: keep showing up. What we do is not easy, but it can be a rewarding experience if you just keep at it,” Keenom said in an email interview. “Be that unknown face that people walk by every day on their way to work. Because one day they might just get curious and drop a dollar in your hat while they’re at it.”
The International Busking Festival will take place this Saturday, Dec. 12 along Fifth Street between Roosevelt and Garfield streets. The performances are scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m.
Contact the reporter at jeanne.gallagher@asu.edu
