Buskin' Berkley...

[Sybrell]

Hello all,
I'm going to be in Berkley Ca. this weekend for a short while and was wondering if there were any pitches worth trying out on a Satuday morning? I need info on where, rules and if I need a permit or really any info would be much appreciated. Thanks for any info.

Daniel.

[HiveQueen]

Don't know about permits, but check out the Fourth Street shopping district at Fourth Street just north of Hearst Avenue.

(Take the University exit to berkeley, take a left as soon as you can, drive (north) to Hearst, take another left, drive (west) to fourth street, go around in circles looking for parking.)

Weekend mornings it's absolutely crammed with yuppies. There's a plaza kind of area over by Peets & Cafe Rouge, but also a captive audience near Betty's Diner (average brunch table wait time is 45 minutes or more, so you've got a lot of people hanging out out front.)

Alternatives to 4th street- Telegraph avenue at Bancroft Way hits the University, big plaza, lots of open space, and Telegraph is full of street vendors on the weekends so you should get shopper spillover. You could also check out BART plaza in downtown Berkeley.

DO find out about permits before you try anything, though. Aside from some musicians I haven't seen a lot of buskers here, which makes me think that either Berkeleyans are tightwads or it's not permitted. (The buskers I know who live in Berkeley work over in SF.)

good luck

[Sybrell]

Thanks for the info....gonna see what I can do on Telegraph...permits for the city streets and parks is ludicris...Hasta.
Daniel.

[tony]

Hi Sybrell -- did you find out anything about permits. It looks as if I am moving to Berkeley and I want to play. I notice you are from Fresno -- any busking there? tony

[Sybrell]

Some info on Berkley. They require a permit for almost anywhere you may want to perform except for Telegraph where you just have to compete with vagrants and drug addicts blatently asking for money for alcohol and/or drugs. There really isn't that much room to do much for me (juggling) but maybe for a musician. The permits are ludicusly expensive and not even worth it. As for Fresno, there really isn't much out here, nothing worth traveling a few hours for at least. I for one am taking my show south and north to hit a few of the bigger pitches. That's about all I can tell you for Berkley and Fresno, hope it helps. Hasta.

Daniel.