The
Buskers Festival takes place during the last week of
August in the streets and
piazza of
Ferrara,
Italy. Bringing together hundreds of
street musicians from across the globe, the festival is primarily dedicated to music; but a
street fair, with
mimes,
magicians,
jugglers and
fire-eaters accompanies the musicians, as Ferrara’s 200,000 square meters are transformed into a vibrant marketplace for
world music.
The festival becomes an enormous sonic
melting pot for different musical genres. Walking through the narrow
medieval streets reveals the sounds and rhythms of
African drums intermixed with a
carefree swing of
New Orleans Dixieland; the enchanting sounds of a
Celtic harp weave through the labyrinth of alleyways, seducing the ears, coalescing into the soulful, melancholic notes of an
Argentinean tango from in front of Ferrara’s
Cathedral.
This year (2000) is the 13th anniversary of the festival, and the organizers have dedicated this edition to the music of
Finland. But every kind of music has the right to call Ferrara home during the fest.
Jazz,
raggae,
folk and
pop music massage the ears and tickle the toes. Dancing is encouraged, and having a good time is
paramount.
Considered the most important event of its kind in
Europe, in 1999 the festival featured more than 700 performers from more than 20 nations performing to an audience of some 800,000 visitors from across
Italy and Europe making it the second largest street festival in Italy.
This year featured groups include
Duo Resonante from
Denmark,
Kronwerk Brass from
Russia and
the blues band
Hell’s Kitchen from
Switzerland. Other invited groups include a
hillbilly/
bluegrass band, a
klezmer band (
Yiddish folk music), and the
funk and
soul sounds of the band
Emergency. Virtuoso performers can also be found playing some of the most basic instruments:
saws,
washboards,
cow bells and
tea chests are only a few of the strange musical apparati that have been spotted at the festival. Here, medium is of little importance; music overtakes the town, inviting all --regardless of their voice, instruments, or origin –to play their part in the polyphonic frenzy.
Ferrara Buskers Festival
Occurs every year during the final week in August
Website: www.ferrarabuskers.com/