Busk A Move

If you think your performance is delicious… or it would be a good match for a delicious meal, the City of Darwin’s busking incentive scheme is calling.

Arts and cultural development co-coordinator Katy Moir says local performers of all varieties – established or emerging – are invited to be involved in the program to activate outdoor spaces aligned with the street food program.

As part of the new incentive,  selected performers will get a one-off performance fee and an annual busking licence, plus the opportunity to team up with an existing food business between April 23 and May 19.

“We’ll partner them with a street food vendor they may already have a previous history with, or someone their style of music or performance would suit the ambiance the vendor is creating,” she says.

“We’re trying to create a better relationship between the arts and business communities – that’s something that’s been spoken about a lot in the last two years.”

The program is open to any street performer, and Moir says they’d love to see how creative the community is.

“We’re open to dancers, musicians, poets or a collection of poets – we’re trying to open it to all performers to think about the city as a potential performance space and they can do whatever their practice involves.”

Moir says there has been a renewed interest from performers since the council reviewed its busking policy last year, and the team at council are happy and keen to chat with anyone who wants to hit the streets.

Musician Jordan Ravi spoke with Off The Leash recently and says he attributes a lot of his performance skills to cutting his teeth on the streets busking around Darwin.

“I really learned how to hold a crowd and hone my entertainment skills,” he says.

“Ultimately the best training I could get… and I started to get gigs – it started as small corporate functions and turned into weddings and it gradually grew from there.”

APPLICATIONS CLOSE FRI 22 MAR | 5PM | arts@darwin.nt.gov.au