The annual Halifax Busker Festival is expected to attract up to 250,000 visitors over the six-day event, according to one of its organizers, and this year, features performances by a contortionist, an illusionist, beat boxers and even a Silver Elvis.
On Saturday, a contortionist captivated a crowd on the Halifax boardwalk.
“It’s the largest festival of its kind in Atlantic Canada, and certainly rivals most other Canadian festivals,” Christina Edwards, event director of the event, said on Saturday.
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Participating street performers are from Brazil, the United States and Australia, among other countries.
Contortionist Emma Kerger, who is from Sydney, is one of the 14 performers.
She earned a business degree years ago but opted to “squeeze in a box for a living. Still doing it 15 years later,” the performer known as “Bendy Em” said with a laugh.
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Kerger spent parts of the afternoon showing off her skills to a jaw-dropped crowd of more than 100 people on the Halifax boardwalk.
At one point, she spun multiple times on the ground with her feet crossed behind her head.
“If I fart now, I’ll take off,” Kerger told the crowd.
The denouement entailed the performer fitting herself into a transparent box large enough to fit only a few soccer balls.
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“It’s funny. I’m just kind of in there, sometimes having little random thoughts. I like being in there. Not for too long, though. When it’s hot, it gets pretty painful,” Kerger said.
The festival, now in its 31st year, wraps up on Monday.
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