Busk! Blog

The evening breeze will cool and only a few posters around the county will be what’s left of the 2025 Berkshire Busk! season. The creativity and community that was able to be produced every Friday and Saturday night here in Great Barrington is what makes summers in the Berkshires so special.

Study participants rated areas with buskers 10% higher in terms of comfort, 7% higher in activeness, and 6% higher in overall liking.

Al writes to me that he “love(s) the authenticity of street performing, it tells you the brutal truth about your performance and teaches you how to improve.”

“Busking allows you to have a lot of interactions with the audience and to make them part of the show,” she explains to me. “There’s a bit of magic when it comes to the audience changing.”

While seeing such a variety of costumes, ages, and skillsets, the one thing I kept thinking was, “How does someone find their way into busking, and what does it take?”

Jon B. Woodin (left) and Ryder Cooley (right) are two members of the Dust Bowl Faeries.

Ida Rosenstein Busker Daring Coyotes, photographed by Eltavious Johnson Street performers, otherwise known as “buskers,” have been...

Ida Rosenstein Dylan Patrick Ward busks in 2022 If you’ve ever seen someone playing an instrument in a local park or singing on the...

Abby Hanna Catherine Flaherty grew up climbing trees in her home state of Florida. She was a competitive swimmer in high school, but felt...