The city of Seattle has always seemed ripe for buskers . For those who might not know the term, busking refers to street performance, and anyone who sings on a street corner with a hat at their feet is busking. It’s a very old tradition, and probably stems from the same impulses to perform anything anywhere, and just needed a city with a population with change in their pockets, to get underway.
So a city like this, with a very intelligent citizenry, who also happen to like and appreciate arts and culture of all kinds, would be one of the more likely candidates for a high level of street performance. There are a number of people who do work downtown, and it’s usually the guitar and vocal kinds of entertainment. Buskers have a local hero with Magic Mike , also known as Michael Berger, who has been working Seattle Center, doing magic tricks and making balloon animals for the kids.
He’s been involved in a long legal argument with the city over his right to work there, and it’s an interesting case. He’s won settlements, and the verdict has been overturned and turned again multiple times over the past few decades. For wannabe street performers, looking for cheap Seattle hotel rates to try their luck in the city, it’s still a difficult place to work without a permit, but there are signs of hope everywhere.
