Berkshire Busk!

Music in the Berkshires has been democratized. Ever since Covid slammed the door shut on the region’s rich social life in 2020, closing stores, restaurants, theaters and other places where people gather, Great Barrington has been home to a growing busk culture, bringing a wide variety of performances to the streets, free of charge and for all to enjoy.

Berkshire Busk!, now halfway through its fifth season, was the inspiration of cellist Eugene Carr. In a 2024 interview, he related that he had been sitting in the town one evening, watching people dining al fresco, as was required at the time. “It was pure magic,” he related.

Suddenly, he dreamed of a “smorgasbord” of performers entertaining passersby in the street. “I envisioned a place where you could see five or six performers in an evening, a place where you didn’t have to have tickets,” he said. “Where you could spend 45 minutes with a performer or move on after five if it’s not your thing.”

He believed such a festival would prove to be a catalyst, a safe way to bring the community together and enliven the town through the arts. So, in the summer of 2021, Berkshire Busk! held its first season, featuring both local and visiting artists, many of whom were performing publicly for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.

In only a few years, the festival has established itself as a staple of summertime in the Berkshires, providing a new and free-to-attend cultural and community event for visitors and residents. In 2024 more than 25,000 people experienced Berkshire Busk!

Berkshire Busk! introduced a form of public entertainment that is much more deeply rooted in European culture but that is making inroads into the American psyche. “We’re toddlers trying to get the word out,” said Carr, explaining that the word “busking” comes from the Spanish word “to seek” or “to look for.”

Busking is the act of performing on the street for tips and is an ancient tradition dating back to the Medieval troubadours and mariachi bands. “It’s not as big a phenomenon in this country,” said Carr. “We don’t have a street busking tradition. But we’re trying to inspire other communities to do the same. It drives people downtown, the stores stay open, people come together—it’s a win, win, win.”

Every weekend brings different offerings. Carli Scolforo, general manager of the festival, revealed that she has 200 to 300 individual performers or groups in her data base and that scheduling them can be challenging to give as many performers as possible a chance to appear and to offer a “bunch of different flavors so it’s not the same thing every week.”

Each week brings two performers or groups to the Main Stage while others are scattered throughout the business district. Many of the performers are musicians but others perform circus acts, tie balloons or paint faces. Scolforo said the number of performers is somewhat constrained by the need to avoid “sound bleed” between one performer and the next.

For some buskers the street performances are a way to launch a career but for others it is a career. Take, for instance, Australian performer, Alakazam, who juggles chainsaws, fits his entire body through tennis rackets and specializes in other daring circus stunts. He became interested in circus stunts when just 14 years old when his cousin taught him to juggle and, after a few years with a circus, began street performing at age 18 in Sydney Australia.

Opal Raven is another professional busker, who brings a “goth-circus-cabaret” vibe to her performances with her dark makeup and dangerous props. She takes her one-woman act across the United States, displaying such skills as sword dancing, using LED and fire props, snake charming and more. She hails Berkshire Busk! for the interaction it allows with the audience.

According to the Berkshire Busk! website, buskers face particular challenges as performers. They have an ever-changing audience and must counter conditions they have no control over.

While busking may appear spontaneous, Scolforo said there is a fair amount of structure behind it. “The buskers you see at Faneuil Hall in Boston all have dates to appear there,” she said. And performers develop different techniques to maximize their tips.

The Berkshire Busk! organizers say 2025 is the best season ever and there is much more to come before its conclusion August 30th with a display of fireworks.

Local favorite Katherine Winston is slated to appear August 16th and 30th; award-winning blues and gospel singer Robin OHerin will come August 9th, while larger group performances in the closing weeks of this year’s series include the Black Legacy Project on August 22nd.

On August 8th, there will be Main Stage performances of Americana by the Acoustic Medicine Show, soul music from Sample the Cat and singer-songwriter Natalie Lewis will present favorite songs for the 1960s and ’70s.

Their performances will be supplemented by others around town by Kristoffer Andrew Ross, Roger and Lenny, Emma Kales and Karen & David.

On August 9th, Opal Raven takes the stage, with other featured performances by Just Felice and Firetown Road. Other street performers will be Jacqueline Ferrara, Genevieve Collins, Daring Coyotes and Robin OHerin.

On the Main Stage August 15th, will be composer/guitarist Edwin Munera, Alakazam and Galush, showcasing a setlist of original music and popular remixes, recorded and performed. Performing throughout the town will be L.W. “Blue Water” Watterson, John the Balloon Guy, Jester of the Peace, Roger & Lenny, Mike Pagnani and Brian Hailes.

August 16th Alakazam, The Fremonts and Mike Cobb and the Crevulators take the stage, while Katherine Winston, Balloon Ben, Garrin Benfield, Scott Damgaard, Jester of the Peace and Kristoffer Andrew Ross perform throughout the town.

August 22nd, Christine Bile, Magic Brian and Black Legacy Project are on the stage. Performing around town will be It’s Chris, Willy Welch, Jeffrey Kirn, Joel Blumert and , GypZbilly.

August 23rd brings David Reed with his Delta Blues, Raffel &Ross, The Sirens and Scoil Rince Breifne O Ruairc playing Irish folk and dance. Around town visitors will encounter Mud Wasp, a folk punk artist, Christina Dellea, Balloon Ben, Brad Sanzenbacher and Scott Hsu.

The season comes to an end the weekend of August 29th when Cate Great, Jacob Shipley and Josh Driver on the stage, with Scott Hsu, John the Balloon Guy, Lily Lothrop, Jacqueline Ferrara, Kifa the Piano Boy, Chalk Gremlin Circus, Rick and Marilyn and Timbalanced providing the street entertainment.

The last night, August 30th, Cate Great, Katherine Winston & Michael Aaron, and flamenco dancer Joanna Magdelana take to the stage while Thomas Parker, Tyler Seton, Kajax, Michael Madden, Balloon Ben, Jacqueline Ferrara, Brian Hailes, Lia Pearl perform throughout town.

The buskers will also appear at the weekly farmers market,10 AM TO 12:30 PM, into November at 18 Church Street.

This is a project of Community Busk, a Great Barrington-based non-profit that helps towns build community and boosts local economies through the arts.

For more information about performers and times please click the link below.