Market Days supports street performance, busking and entertainment to bring vibrancy to Newport and other towns on the Isle of Wight.
The Island Busking Collective is a project created by Market Days CIC to inject more vibrancy into Newport, whilst also supporting local musicians and young people. The Island Busking Collective was created in 2021 after the inspiration of wanting to bring more life into Newport, realising that music greatly improves the town’s atmosphere and general mood of the public.
The Island Busking Collective has a collection of street performers that are happy to get together and have a jam, and now we have some amazing connections. We are always welcoming new and old musicians to join the collective, as we expand this community all over the Island.
St Thomas Square Pitch Locations
Market Days CIC and the Island Busking Collective are based in St Thomas Square in Newport on a Saturday. We have two pitches for our buskers to go alongside the markets. One of the pitches is opposite the cafe ‘French Franks’. The other one is just outside the costume shop ‘Master of Disguise’. We encourage the surrounding shops to support our buskers in any way they can.
The Island Busking Collective Code of Practice
- Be polite to all! If something is wrong or isn’t to your liking, please talk to either Essjay, Eve or Claire and we will try to help resolve any issues.
- Stay in your allocated space unless specified otherwise. This is for safety reasons and to keep the general flow of pedestrians around our market. There is no need to swap pitches during your busking slot.
- Don’t actively ask for money, but rather have a container e.g. music instrument case, to accept donations from the public. You cannot sell any CD’s whilst busking unless you have a Street Trading License. For help getting a trading license please ask us.
- If you are a charity, donation signs and collection tins are allowed as long as we have seen proof of your Charitable Street Collection Licence. If you need help getting this just ask us, it is free and easy to obtain!
- No busking permit or license is required.
- We encourage you to bring your own equipment as we currently don’t have any spare equipment to lend out. Amps must be battery powered- no mains power.
- Keep your amplifiers at an appropriate volume, and be mindful of the public. Buskers shouldn’t be intrusive or a nuisance. Play songs that are appropriate for the public to hear!
- Legally, surrounding shop owners and traders can’t force buskers to stop performing, but they can talk to us at the Island Busking Collective if there is an issue with a particular busker. It is always best to be considerate if someone doesn’t want you outside their shop and so remember to be polite!
Slot times and booking
We give out two hour slots at a time when booking buskers. They are between 10am-12pm, then 12pm-2pm, and the last one being 2pm-4pm. We can book two busking acts per slot as we have different pitches to put the buskers. If you would like to perform for less or more than two hours, then let us know in the ‘extra information’ part when booking a slot.
