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Buskers Day back for second year on the Seawalk

Event also takes place during Greenways Loop Day
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Nigel Nikolaisen – also known as Gibby Nik – drew quite a little crowd at last year’s Buskers Festival on the Seawalk, and he is excited the event is back for another round on July 24. -Photo by Mike Davies/Campbell River Art+Earth

Around this time last year, as it started to feel more and more like summer every day, Campbell River Art+Earth Coordinator Mike Davies was trying to figure out a way to bring music back to the community after a tough couple of years.

On a whim, he looked up “International Buskers Day” on his computer and found out that while there was no “official” day that he could find, most cities held their events celebrating street performance sometime around the 20th of July.

So he decided to put one on here, too.

He didn’t have much time, but he managed to recruit 10 performers, spread them out along the Seawalk, did some promotion and hoped for the best.

“It seemed pretty well attended from what I could see, but I was running around from spot to spot making sure everyone had what they needed and was happy, so I didn’t really get a good feel for how it was going until after the fact,” Davies says. “I immediately started getting messages from people asking about when the next one would be or telling me how much they enjoyed it, including the musicians themselves. I think it’s safe to say a couple hundred people went to the Seawalk that afternoon just to see the performers.”

Nigel Nikolaisen – also known as Gibby Nik – was one of last year’s featured performers, and he says he’s happy the event is returning.

“When Mike pitched me the idea last year I was instantly on board,” Nikolaisen says. “Buskers Day was something the community really needed and the turn-out was way beyond what I expected. I was proud to be a part of it and I’m very excited the event will be back this summer.”

And back it will certainly be. Davies has now joined up with another community organization to make the day even better.

“Laurel (Cronk) reached out to me earlier this year to see if there was any interest in combining Loop Day with the buskers event to give the people doing the loop a bit more entertainment on the day, and I was happy to work with her on that,” Davies says.

Loop Day is the day that the community celebrates the Greenways Loop, a 28 km system of trails that circle the city.

“The Loop is all about community connection,” Cronk says, and we’re absolutely thrilled that Loop Day has continued to grow over the years, bringing in more and more community partners and interest. Now to add the buskers event into it makes celebrating Campbell River’s beautiful environment through active transportation even more special.”

And there are more fun announcements to come, so mark your calendars for Sunday, June 26, 2022.

The Loop Day ride will get underway starting with a warm-up at 10:30 a.m. at Rotary Park, and the buskers will be out along the Seawalk from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

And if you’re a local performer who would like to be one of the featured buskers that day, reach out to Davies by email at crartandearth@gmail.com while he still has some spaces left to fill.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to include the correct date for Buskers Day and Loop Day.



marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com

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