Galway’s Busker Community are planning a day long busk-a-thon this weekend in protest of the city council’s second go at introducing busking bylaws.
The 12 hour ‘Bualadh Busk’ will see performances all day from members of the local music scene this Saturday, February 16 at the top of William Street, by the Oscar Wilde statue, from 10am to 10pm.
There’ll be non-stop music, along with members of the Galway Buskers Community to talk about their Code of Conduct and the proposed council bylaws, as well as a petition for members of the public.
Galway city council is re-introducing busking bylaws for the protected streetscape in the city centre after the laws passed last year couldn’t be brought into effect.
The council was told in January that because they didn’t include a commencement date when passing the bylaws, the process had to start from scratch.
A spokesperson for the Galway Busker’s Community said that their voluntarily adopted Code of Conduct for street performers in Galway city has been a complete success.
“we can show near one hundred percent compliance with our code, which assumes the best of our community—as opposed to their proposed bye-laws, which by their very nature of being laws, assume the worst.”
The council bylaws would restrict the use of amplification by buskers to evening hours and limit circle acts to areas off Shop Street.
Supporters of the bylaws said that local businesses were being severely hampered in their ability to do business by excessive noise and crowds blocking traffic.
The Buskers Community said that they were not consulted during the process of drafting these bylaws.
The council is using the bylaws which it already voted on as the current draft text.
They are on display at city hall for the public to view until March 1.
Members of the public can make submissions to the council about the bylaws up to March 8.
The Buskers Community says that during last year’s consultation process the vast majority of public submissions made were opposed to the bylaws.
