New busker festival coming to Charlottetown at the end of the month

A new busker festival is coming to Charlottetown later this month, in another signthe city is trying return to normal as the world remains reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

Founders' Food Hall & Market Busker Fest will be running for three days starting Aug. 27. It will be a free festival, featuring up to 18 busker performances per day.

Charlottetown Harbour Authority CEO Mike Cochranesaid the event is meant to signal that there's "a light at the end of the tunnel" once the country puts COVID-19behind.

"We thought it would be a great idea to kind of put together a little celebration and busker fest that extends into the end of August, which is typically a good week to extend the tourism season right after Old Home Week," Cochrane said.

"Have a little bit of celebration down around the waterfront to help out the local community and draw some attraction and get some people in."

Cochrane said the festival will take advantage of an uptick in tourism following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions on travellers entering the province. He said he hopes it proves a boon for local businesses, which have been greatly affected by down seasons during the last couple of summers.

Cochrane said there are no plans to make the festival an annual event yet.

"Depends on traffic and the uptake in business there's just different considerations," he said. "We're just really focused on trying to do this one and get it out there and have some celebration."

Stages for the festival will be located at the food hall's main entrance and its newly expanded patio. It will cost about $40,000 to host it, with various levels of government helping fund the event.

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