Effort to regulate Whyte Ave buskers a bust, Edmonton report finds

The City of Edmonton is abandoning an effort to regulate and control something that seemed to regulate and control itself for years: busking.

The Old Strathcona Business Association feels the city can’t run away from the mess that was made fast enough.

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City staff thought it would be a good idea to require buskers along Whyte Avenue and elsewhere to get a permit to set up and perform.

A year-long pilot project was created for 2017 but it didn’t get going until June and even then, it didn’t catch on.

“The pilot experienced challenges as the voluntary nature of the permit program, which provided no incentives for registration, resulted in limited uptake,” a city report found.

“Many buskers understood or soon recognized that there were no consequences for not obtaining a permit.”

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“It took a permitting and licensing approach,” said Cherie Klassen, the executive director of the business association. “That wasn’t the right way to go about it and it certainly wasn’t communicated appropriately if you were going to do something like that. So I think the overall execution didn’t align with the goals.

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The vision, according to the report, was that some 20 regular buskers would play along; maybe 10 did.

“If somebody came up to the office and (got) a permit, they got one for no reason,” she laughed. “There were no qualifications around it.”

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Klassen said the last thing you’d want to do is license and regulate the arts, especially in Old Strathcona, the home to the Fringe Festival, and for 2018, the Street Performers Festival, both full of buskers.

“Absolutely, we are a theatre and arts district, and entertainment district.

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“We want to have good entertainment, we want to have a positive experience for people who come down to the area, so if anything, we want to amplify that in a positive way.”

This year, the Street Performers Festival will be in McIntyre Park at 83 Avenue and Calgary Trail since its normal home in Churchill Square is off limits due to LRT construction.