be a painless and straightforward process — I read one time that if what a street performer is doing makes you stop in your tracks , you owe them a dollar . I ’ ve found this to be a good rule of thumb , and have learned from other buskers that even if I don ’ t have a dollar to give or to spare , simply approaching after the performance and saying “ Thank you , enjoyed that ,” is another way of showing gratuity and that you valued their contribution to the atmosphere . Buskers in Boston were often tipped in subway tokens as well as coins and dollars .
You ’ ll find various designated ( and undesignated-though-potentially-pre-agreedupon-by-the-parties-involved ) areas for busking throughout the Pacific Northwest . Pike ’ s Place Market in Seattle is perhaps the most famous , and Granville Island in British Columbia has a licensed program that will feature both local and international acts . In Vancouver , BC , there are popular locations along Library Square , Queen Elizabeth Theatre , Science World , Seawall , and the Vancouver Art Gallery . You won ’ t find a farmer ’ s market in Portland without a live local musician or two . Spokane ’ s Riverfront Park and other downtown street corners are chockablock with musicians and other entertainers throughout the warm weather .
But in 2011 in Ellensburg , Washington , Carolyn Honeycutt ’ s husband Lee instigated a festival which came to be known as “ Buskers in the Burg .” Magicians , comedians , circus artists , dancers , the local roller derby team , and musicians of every genre under the Central Washington sun season the Ellensburg streets during the last weekend of each September , most of them local . “ No politics and no nudity ,” said Carolyn , “ but other than that , it ’ s an opportunity for artists to have a day where they can be as weird as they want to and it ’ s okay .”
It seems a point of pride that the event started out and continues to be so homegrown . “ We had no idea what we were doing ,” Carolyn said , “ and it turned into a signature piece .” The Ellensburg Downtown Association at the time was trying to create a new fall fundraising event . They wanted to do something different — something new , family-inclusive , and uniquely Ellensburg . Lee Honeycutt piped up and said “ Buskers !” And Carolyn , executive director of the association at the time , said , “ What ’ s that ?” And so they learned .
The event kicks off on Friday with what they call “ previews ” of buskers you might see throughout the weekend , followed by a pop-up comedy club for 21-plus on Friday night . The main event — as anyone who has been to Ellensburg in the past ten years during the last weekend of September will tell you — is the Arts Parade beginning Saturday morning at 10 am . Brian Kooser , one of the original organizers of the epic Fremont Solstice Parade in Seattle , showed up at the first Buskers in the Burg as a seven-foot robot . “ He became the Pied Piper of Ellensburg in a day ; the kids loved him ,” Carolyn Honeycutt remembered . Monica Miller of Gallery One introduced them , grants were obtained , and Ellensburg became the iconic home for one of the oddest and most memorable spectacles in the Pacific Northwest . There are giant wearable puppets , stilted costumes , and life-sized oddities so strange that at first the organizers were concerned the children would find them too scary . “ It ’ s not the puppet ,” assured Brian , “— it ’ s who ’ s in the costume that makes everything okay .” If the puppeteer is having a good time , so will the audience .
And we see this to be true of all buskers , worldwide , don ’ t we ? When we pass someone blissfully delivering something beautiful , spontaneously free of charge , it can take our
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