Halifax Buskers Festival is big fun and big business

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SaltWire Today - Thursday, August 3, 2023 | SaltWire

Like the right jacket, the Halifax Busker Fest is not rain-proof, but rain resistant.

“Annually, depending on the weather but even with bad weather, we get 220,000 to 250,000 regularly, because it’s essentially eight days. The waterfront is already packed, I just came back from there, people are already there, and traffic is already backed up. And the hotels are filled,” said Kim Hendrickson, president of the Premiere Entertainment Group, hours before it started on Wednesday.

Premiere puts on the festival, which is in its second year back from the pandemic, and the attendance numbers Hendrickson uses are from a government study conducted in 2014. She admits it’s hard to be exact, especially since it’s a free event, with no ticket sales.

“But one day last year, on the Sunday, on a corner of the waterfront near the beer garden, we hit 52,000 people in that corner,” she said. “There’s no formal way for us to estimate what the impact is on (hotels and restaurants). All we have is that study from 2014, and they were estimating at that time $ 26 million in economic spin-off. I have to believe it’s much higher now, but I can’t prove that because a study hasn’t been done since then.”

Fees from vendors, corporate sponsors and government funding allow the festival to happen.

“Pre-pandemic we had about 40 vendors,” said Hendrickson. “This year I think we have 30, and that’s partly because of a lack of space on the waterfront. We’re not extended down to the ferry terminal like we used to be … we’re focused at Maritime Museum, Sackville Landing, Foundation Wharf, and we’ve expanded to Seaport in Dartmouth. Last year, I’d say we had 20 vendors, but that’s because we didn’t even start until April due to the group gathering restrictions.”

Hendrickson said she is very happy with the roster of vendors that will serve festival attendees. The process to select them starts in late winter when applications open.

“Those who have been with us in the past have the first opportunity to return, and we actually have vendors who have been with us for 30 years,” she said. “They come from Ottawa, it’s an Ecuadorian family and they bring Ecuadorian crafts. They’re so organized and professional and easy to work with, and they come every year. It’s very difficult for us to open space for new vendors right now.”

Hendrickson said food vendors are obviously important, but clothing, spices and other products are also sold.

“We used to have Bath Fitters come because it gave them an opportunity to talk to people, they had their product set up, like a bit of a trade show, almost, and they’d be between cakes and pizzas and Indian food.”

Vendors pay between $2,000 - $20,000 to take part in the busker festival.

“There’s so many variables we have to take into account – is it a 10 x 10, a 10 x 20, how much power do they need, what products are they selling?

We try to have as many exclusive as possible, so nobody is guerilla marketing over the other person. We want them all to be successful, whether it’s a food truck or a tent, so we have a base and we go from there,” said Hendrickson, adding that car manufacturers aren’t doing displays anymore because there aren’t enough cars to go around. “That hurts, because they were big sponsors.”

This year’s festival will include 13 acts, which is in line with previous years, coming from as far away as France, Switzerland, England and the U.S. On the festival poster is Mighty Mike, a busker originally from Dartmouth who performs various circus skills.

“He grew up with the busker festival and decided that’s what he wanted to do for a living, so he now travels the world doing festivals and cruise ships and all kinds of things.”