The City of Victoria will be testing out two types of busking opportunities at several locations downtown this summer.
The pilot program will inform an update to the city's street entertainment bylaw and has created new elevated and designated busking locations.
Elevated busking locations are reserved for artists who were auditioned by the city and then scheduled to perform at eight downtown spots. The elevated busker locations include Ship Point, the Upper Causeway near the visitor centre, Bastion Square, the Johnson Street plaza and spots on Broad Street.
Downtown will host five designated busker spots along Government Street where any licensed buskers can perform for tips. Those with licences can still perform in other downtown areas as per the current street entertainment bylaw.
The city is holding a busking showcase at Ship Point from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of its Canada Day festivities.
The pilot program will run until mid September.
To inform the upcoming busking rule changes, a survey will ask the public for input on allowable locations for performances, sound amplification at specific sites, how to enhance downtown busking and whether people would like to see covered spaces, seating and more integrated around the public shows.
The survey is open until the end of August and can be found here.
