In four days' time, on November 1st, 2020, the Westminster Government are attempting to release busking licensing restrictions over the Wider West End, due to the ‘1,800 complaints’ they receive ‘each year about excessive noise or overcrowding caused by busking’. The 143 paged document attached shows the complaints about busking from 2017 and 2019 according to the Westminster Government https://www.westminster.gov.uk/sites/default/files/busking_complaints_data_redacted.pdf. Yet, during a time of isolation and constant crave for something to look forward to, with many jobs and lifestyles already being taken and stripped away from the people, should these restrictions still be put into practice?
Previously, streets have been full of Buskers and eager people who watched and sometimes even joined in with the musical buzz, however, due to Covid-19, these events have decreased significantly with Busker’s losing the majority of their customers and thus losing their livelihoods. In the countdown to the last few months of 2020, people are looking for signs of hope and togetherness in an attempt to distract themselves in these unprecedented times. Luis Knowles, a 15-year-old Busker in Kingston stated that busking ‘allows people to make special connections through music’. During his two week experience of busking, he concluded that ‘It brings people together’ and his main motive for entertainment was for the ‘rewarding smiles on people’s faces’ some of which even joined in with the performance, ‘Older people sang along especially to hallelujah’, ‘then two girls around 18 joined in with the newer music’.
Recently, we have witnessed protests against the busking restrictions, with famous faces such as Eddie Izzard and a coalition of industry leaders and street performers striving for the ‘Save London Buskers’ campaign to be successful. Luis Knowles suggested that ‘Of course there are complaints as music is a personal thing’ yet, ‘People who are disturbed can ask the buskers to turn their amplifiers down as ultimately, people are looking for things to cheer them up’ and the melodious streets remind us that there is hope out there for the future even through Covid-19.
