John Vickers has a lot of balls in the air this week, but the organizer of the Victoria International Busker Festival expects everything to proceed smoothly.
“The beautiful weather is great for buskers and I’ve got some incredible acrobats this year who are just amazing,” Vickers said.
“Every year it seems a little bit easier, so hopefully it will continue that way.”
The third annual event opened Friday and continues through July 28 with about 75 acrobats, fire-breathers, hula-hoopers, comedians and musicians filling nooks around downtown. There are seven outdoor stages.
While sound problems and technical issues set some of the first performers behind schedule on opening night, Vickers said it didn’t faze him.
“When you’re covering such broad ground downtown, it’s nothing new,” he said. “Usually by the end of the first day, you work out all of those kinks.”
Tourists and locals gathered on opening night for the first round of shows. While some said they weren’t aware ahead of time that the festival was happening, they were pleased with the entertainment.
“This is pure chance, but we’ve had a lot of fun all day,” said Los Angeles resident Lew Wilson. “Everyone’s very into it too, which makes it more fun.”
Charles Erwin of Kelseyville, Calif., arrived on a cruise ship. He purchased a CD from Victoria’s O’Brien Family, a musical group that performed in Bastion Square.
Others wandered to the busking sites from one of the other events keeping the downtown area bustling this weekend, including the classic car event Northwest Deuce Days and Friday’s Victoria Street Food Festival, which was so popular several vendors ran out of food.
Langford residents Louise Turner and Chuck Williamson said they came to check out all three events.
“We just sort of wandered down to see it all,” Turner said.
Performers came from as far away as Australia, South America and the U.K. But there were also some local talents featured, including Nanaimo’s Vesta Fire, a family circus at their first busker festival.
“I’m a mom and having my kids involved in my business is important to me,” said troupe co-ordinator Karina Strong, whose daughter Jenna, 9, also performs in the group.
“It’s what we do with our lives, how we choose to spend our time. And I choose to spend it with my family.”
Buskers fought for donations throughout the day, while volunteers also collected on behalf of the festival.
“I’m doing my best to drum up donations for next year,” said volunteer Laurie Tritschler.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit persuasive, but so far people are being pretty generous.”
