Covent Garden.
Covent Garden has been the home of a thriving street performance culture for centuries. For the capital’s greatest circle acts head for the piazza during afternoons into early evenings seven days a week.
The Covent Garden street performers are a collective of mime artists, sword swallowers, escapologists, jugglers, uni-cyclists, acrobats, rope walkers, magicians and many other variety of entertainers and creatives.
The Queen’s Walk on the Southbank, Covent Garden, The London Underground, and the Camden pitches are some particularly popular busking locations in London.
Street performance is practiced all over the world and dates back to antiquity. People engaging in this practice are called street performers or buskers in the United Kingdom.
Since the 1660s Covent Garden has never missed a chance to put on a performance. The first record of Covent Garden street entertainment came in 1662, when Samuel Pepys’ diary notes that a marionette show featuring a character named Punch took place on the Piazza. Today, the custom continues.
Members clubs like Soho House and its east London Shoreditch House, the Hospital Club, and House of St Barnabas are a popular spots for more established designers, and also go-tos for cultural PRs in the city.
Busking is not illegal but your council will tell you about byelaws or rules you must observe, such as: not making too much noise. not blocking public highways (footpaths, pavements, open pedestrian areas) not displaying notices asking for payment.
Potential earnings in a strong area: £8 – £15 per hour
During special events, it is also possible to pick up particularly generous one-off tips from any passers-by that can be anything from £5 to £100! There are certain areas where you might be able to be paid for busking.
Busking is legal on public land. The only exceptions in London are the London Borough of Camden and Uxbridge Town Centre. Both of these areas require a performer to apply and pay for a licence.
One of the best areas in London for street art is Shoreditch, where the works change almost daily. Join a Shoreditch Street Art Tour to discover pieces by many of the best graffiti and stencil artists in the world, or combine your love of street art with east London food on an Eating London Tour.
Some people make hundreds a day, particularly at festivals. However, you may get nothing for one hour, and then earn over £20+ the next hour. One bagpiper claims he makes an average of £200 a day busking on Westminster. Remember, although you are earning cash, you are still liable for tax on earnings.
If you’ve ever stopped to watch a street performer and dropped a few coins or dollars into the hat, you might think it’s just chump change. But many of those magicians and jugglers work the streets as a full-time job – and manage to make a good living at it.
The street entertainers are active until late evening, but best time is 6pm to 8pm, Covent Garden´s happy hour. A more complete information may be found in coventgardenlife website. Enjoy!
1. Soho (from USD 826) Soho has earned a reputation for being the heart of entertainment in London, and it’s still able to live up to this image until now. You can find just about anything and everything in this district, including small pubs, cabarets, novelty bars, and high-end clubs.
A busking license is valid for 6 months and costs only 10 pounds.
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
1- Mayfair
Sitting side by side with Hyde Park and Green Park, the balance of open greenery and historic opulence has created one of the most popular places to live for the London rich. As well as the many wealthy Georgian homes, Mayfair is also home to the world-famous tailor district of Savile Row.
Here are some of the best neighbourhoods in London known for their artsy, trendy vibes:
Westminster seems to be one of the most prolific London Boroughs when it comes to celebrity birth places. Not surprising, bearing in mind it’s home to some of London’s most upmarket areas.
In a nutshell, busking and begging may be alike for that they both solicit donations in public space, but at the same time busking should be distinguishable from begging in that it additionally provides performance and entertainment which have the potential to make public space more favorable.
Busking is an important part of many musicians’ lives. It can be a lifelong career – and it can also be a space to develop audiences, hone skills, and try out new material.
