A couple of buskers from the United States who got engaged at the annual Halifax International Busker Festival returned 12 years later to perform again.
John Higby, a Guinness World Record holder for multiple yo-yoing feats, first performed in the festival in 2000. It was at the festival where he began the busker routine with his wife.
“We have awesome chemistry, so it just works out. But we hear from the audience, ‘how do you work with her all the time? I can’t stand my wife,'” said John Higby, one half of Yo-Yo People.
“We met at a toy store in Denver and had known each other for about a week,” Rebecca Higby said. “But then I was going back to visit my family in Maine when he was going to be in Halifax, and he said, ‘what if I drove down and picked you up?,’ and I said, ‘okay.’ And so, yeah, we sort of first started dating in Halifax.”
Rebecca eventually started performing with him.
In 2004, they returned to perform at the festival and left engaged.
(Their son really is named Theodore, though the name wasn’t consciously inspired by the boat, she added.)
The duo, who are from Amherst, Mass., performed near the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic three times on Sunday.
Rebecca said she enjoys the friendliness of Halifax and how supportive Canadians are of the arts.
The festival wraps up on Monday.