Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Buskers worry about competition over downtown performance zones

New Street Performer Zoning Regulation

Christopher DeVargas

From left, Dennis Patterson and Chad Fritz, living silver statues, pose with a tourist on the Fremont Street Experience, Tuesday Nov. 17, 2015.

Buskers say they are worried tempers might boil over as competition heats up for a limited number of city-approved performance zones at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas.

Jared Carle, a balloon artist, said he prefers looking for vacant performance zones rather than participating in a daily lottery, but he worries competition will mount in the warmer months.

“There’s just going to be bottle fights over these spots,” he said, especially if special events further limit the number of available performance zones.

At a meeting today, city officials acknowledged space availability hasn’t been an issue yet but could be in the tourist-heavy months when more buskers flock to the area.

“We’re watching that as well,” City Attorney Brad Jerbic said. “I need to hear from you if we’re getting really tight on performance zones.”

A balloon artist, contortionist and Elvis impersonator were among the street performers who gathered today to give city officials feedback about the ordinance regulating their activities at the Fremont Street Experience.

Fewer than a dozen buskers attended the meeting — a turnout they blamed on lousy outreach efforts by Las Vegas city officials.

“You’re dealing with people’s livelihoods here,” one performer said angrily.

Jerbic said he distributed fliers advertising the meeting to buskers performing at night on Fremont Street and left a stack at an information booth.

Still, he promised to pass along their concerns and boost outreach efforts, including during daytime hours, before the next meeting.

“If I didn’t respect your livelihood, we wouldn’t be having these meetings,” Jerbic said.

Last fall, the Las Vegas City Council passed an ordinance that sought to eliminate what officials had characterized as a free-for-all downtown as street performers competed for prime space on the pedestrian mall flanked by casinos.

The ordinance requires buskers — performers working for tips — to entertain in one of 38 performance zones measuring six feet in diameter.

Street performers can register online to participate in a lottery for two-hour slots in the performance zones between 3 p.m. and 1 a.m. Buskers who don’t participate in the lottery are free to entertain in any vacant performance zone.

City officials said about 700 street performers have registered online since the ordinance went into effect in November. During that time, six buskers were cited and two arrested for violating the new rules, Jerbic said.

Mary McElhone, the city’s business license section manager, shared updates with the buskers, such as a new opt-in lottery schedule and information booth hours. Online hours for the opt-in lottery will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The lottery will follow at 5:15 p.m., with results posted by 5:30 p.m.

Hours for the information booth on Fremont Street will be 2 to 5 p.m.

The buskers — many of whom oppose the ordinance for First Amendment-related reasons — generally agreed to the changes, but they expressed concern about how the ordinance would affect their tip-making abilities during the busier tourist months.

The next busker feedback meeting will be later this month or in early April.

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