Thousands out in city to see buskers in action
A revamped Christchurch buskers festival has produced a ‘‘wonderful vibe’’ across the city centre despite mixed opening weekend weather.
Bread & Circus – World Buskers Festival began on Thursday, with shows staged until February 3 at street busking pitches, a 650-seat spiegeltent on an empty car park site and indoor venues at Christ’s College and the Arts Centre.
This year is the first festival under the management of Australian events company Strut & Fret. Director Scott Maidment said yesterday the addition of the spiegeltent had generated many inquiries, with more than 25,000 people visiting their website in the past two days.
The weekend’s festivities were marked with about 2000 people attending a free spectacle called OHO, which means to wake up in te reo. The show featured 16 dancers, digital projectors, stage smoke and three lasers.
‘‘It started with a Ma¯ori acoustic welcome and then developed into a deep kind of amazing dance and laser show,’’ Maidment said.
‘‘It was a pretty deeply moving experience. Anybody who was there was quite taken aback by the warmth and depth of the performance and it’s certainly something we’re keen to develop.’’
Locals told him the vibe around the city centre for the buskers was as good as if not better than ever before.
On Saturday, Limbo, a show that mixes cabaret, circus and acrobatics sold more than 500 tickets – the most in one day in the six-year history of the show.
Maidment said that although the weather had been mixed, a sunny Sunday meant the show areas were ‘‘packed’’.
‘‘Because the days are so long they start with a family vibe and there’s still people partying in the tent at 1am. It really goes through transitions throughout the day from families to people seeing shows to people catching up on late night comedy and sticking around and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere of the spiegeltent.’’