Magic moments at Auckland International Busker Festival

For the eighth time a dynamic group of international street performers will be hitting the streets of Auckland from 1 to 6 February 2008.

Over Waitangi weekend fourteen acrobats, jugglers, magicians, pavement artists, contortionists, statues and comedians will come together to create the exciting atmosphere that is the Auckland International Buskers Festival.

Buskers are street performers who entertain others for voluntary donations. They earn their living by ‘passing the hat’ and it is up to the audience to decide how much they would like to pay. The tickets for the buskers to come to Auckland have been paid entirely by sponsors of the event.

The Festival is comprised of over 150 street shows that are held in seven sites spread throughout the city, including Aotea Square, Princes Wharf and in the Viaduct with night shows in Market Square. An estimated audience of 40,000 people will see the streets transformed into a playground for some of the world’s most talented street performers.

"This year’s Festival has the biggest international line up in its eight year history" says Pam Glaser, the Festival’s manager. "We have a dynamic group of performers from the USA, France, Ireland, UK, Macedonia, Australia and New Zealand."

The majority of the performers are newcomers to the festival which was founded in 2001. "Only three buskers have been here before", says Glaser. "Prior to the event we have a selection process as we want to guarantee a high standard of performances. We also try to choose buskers that are not only great in their field but also friendly with the public".

This year’s festival includes a puppeteer for the first time. Award-winning Pane Temov from Macedonia is regarded as one of the finest professional puppeteers, appearing on Sesame Street, on Italian National Television on a comedy show.

Another act to watch out for is Mama Lou. This real specimen of womanhood will pound nails with her fist, bend steel rods with her hands and rip telephone books in half.