Halifax Busker Festival

Hi Blog!

On Friday, August 3, 2018, we were all set to fly back to the Philadelphia area to visit family. Thunderstorms in Newark canceled our travel plans. With all the flights that needed to be rescheduled, we wouldn’t be able to fly out until Monday. This meant we now had an unscheduled weekend in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As it turns out, the first weekend in August is a big three-day holiday weekend. To celebrate, Halifax hosts the 32nd Annual Halifax Busker Festival!

What is a busker festival you ask? Well, it’s a traveling festival of buskers also known as street performers. Buskers come in all shapes and sizes. They can be magicians, musicians, jugglers, mimes and dancers, or they can be a “miming dancing musical juggling magicians.” You get the picture.

The Festival runs for six days with over 300 shows scheduled on four main stages along the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk. We decided to head into town early on Saturday, August 4, 2018. We parked away from the waterfront to avoid traffic. This gave us a chance to walk through downtown and stop at the Stubborn Goat for lunch to fortify ourselves for the afternoon’s frivolity.

After lunch, we followed the crowds down to the boardwalk. As luck would have it, we ended up near the Sackville Landing stage in time to see one of the headliners – Sam Prest from Sydney, Australia. We weren’t sure what to expect when he brought out this giant robot contraption.

With techno music blasting, Sam robodances and dances with his robot, all while entertaining the audience with balloon tricks and juggling. In the photo below, the balloon went in and never came out. Well, at least not while we were watching!

Sam performed the grand finale on top of the robot while set ablaze!

To get the full impact, click on the link to this short video clip [insert video of flaming robot juggler]

After the show, we had 15 minutes to get to the next stage. We wandered along the boardwalk to get a closer look at the Halifax Harbor. Georges Island sits in the middle of the harbor. The lighthouse was built in 1917 after the original lighthouse from 1876 was destroyed by fire.

A concrete pier serves as the city’s heliport. The crowd begins to gather around the Heliport Stage. We can see storm clouds gathering in the distance. We experienced a short sprinkle earlier. We were hoping to get to see the next show.

As they say in show business, the show must go on! Pictured below is Nigel Blackstorm. Born Gareth Blackthunder, he was raised in a small town in the south of England called New Jersey. As a youth he focused on his two passions: heavy metal music and magic. He founded a magical heavy metal cover band called Lordz of Illuzzion!

Nigel regaled us with tales of his misspent youth while calling on members of the audience to help him re-create his heavy metal band. While the audience members changed into their costumes, Nigel performed all the classic magic tricks – magic rings, trick cards, magic wands that turn into flowers. Once the boys were dressed, they performed Lordz of Illuzzion’s only hit! After thunderous applause (or perhaps it was just thunder) the band strikes a pose!

We were hoping to get in one last performance before heading home, but the weather started looking threatening again. Apparently, those thunderstorms in Newark had worked their way up the coast to Nova Scotia. We decided to call it a day. Next time we come to Nova Scotia, we plan to include the Busker Festival in our itinerary.