The Halifax International Busker Festival is marking a major milestone this year as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Christina Edwards, director of the Halifax International Busker Festival, says her company has produced the event for 38 of its 40 years, adding that “It’s pretty exciting down on the waterfront” right now.
To mark the anniversary, Edwards says organizers worked to bring back some familiar faces while also introducing new performers.
“This year, because it’s the anniversary, we did try to bring back a lot of the fan favorites.”
Among them is Victor Rubilar of Sweden, who Edwards says has performed at the festival for more than two decades.
“Poncho Libre, he’s from Mexico, and he has been the winner of the festival’s People’s Choice Award several times. But we also have brand new acts. There’s a group that came in from Japan, their name is Marble.”
Edwards says the lineup offers a mix of veteran and first-time performers.
“It’s a really nice combination. Some artists have been coming for 20 years off and on, and others are brand new.”
The festival stretches along the Halifax waterfront, with four stages running from the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to the Halifax Seaport. Attractions also include the Glow Family Funland, featuring bouncy castles, bungee rides, and family activities, along with a wide variety of vendors.
“There’s a real mixture of international foods, clothing and jewelry, face painting and caricature artists, henna tattoos, hair braiders, like all kinds of really interesting fun things for people to do in between the shows or just as they walk from one end of the waterfront to the other.”
This year, however, festival programming is limited to the Halifax side of the harbour.
“With the funding cuts for events this year, we weren’t able to activate Dartmouth like we have in the past. So unfortunately, we’re back where we were originally for many, many years – completely on the Halifax side.”
Edwards says information about performers, showtimes, and stage locations can be found online.
“Go to buskers.ca, it has all the information on the artists, where they’re going to be, what times they’re going to be performing and at what stages.”
With rain in the forecast, she also encourages attendees to keep an eye on the festival’s social media channels for updates.
“Today, there’ll probably be a rain delay for a show start. So, people can just follow our social media and they will get instant updates on what changes are happening.”
Despite the challenges of organizing an event of this size, Edwards says a dedicated team helps make it happen every year.
“We’ve got an amazing group of staff that have been working this festival for decades. Some have started as volunteers and then were hired on as staff. We’ve got a really great festival family here. We love to put this festival on and we hope people come down and enjoy it.”
