Busker is a British term for street performer, so naturally an American like myself is not as likely to have heard it before, let alone use it in conversation. We use the term street performer, but busker sounds just a wee bit more interesting. Buskers can cover themselves in paint, make balloon animals, perform an instrument, sing at a metro station, juggle, eat fire, flip, dance, sketch you as a cartoon; all of this for a small tip.
In New York City I was used to hearing singers in the subway and watching hip hop dancers perform anywhere from Times Square to the fountain in Washington Square Park. Montreal has a different sort of, shall we say, busker scene. Juggling is very popular in Montreal (I have seen jugglers pretty frequently). Of course there is always a person who dresses up for picture happy tourists, like this guy below who I can only imagine is some sort of silver Aztec king.
Place Jacques-Cartier in Old Montreal always has buskers hanging around looking to keep their audience entertained. Bands like this one make strolling around the city much more entertaining, I believe from one of the many universities in Montreal, that made the weekend afternoon.
This busker is quite the regular. I have seen him perform his fire juggling routine many times; even a year after I left Montreal he was still at it, performing for huge crowds by the Old Port. There are lots of pictures of him on Flickr.
Image via: fabio costello
A lot of enthusiasts perform not for money, but merely for the pleasure of performance, such as during Tam Tams. Montreal is a very creative city, so it is natural that its inhabitants would use the public space to display their talents. Expect lots of street performers at many of Montreal’s festivals.
Image via: Rishi Menon
Image via: icarusfire
Related posts:
