On May 31st, Wexford buskers will be taking to the streets as part of a brand-new music festival. We caught up with organizer JJ Bird for the details…
With the Fleadh Cheoil fast-approaching, Wexford is once again gearing up for the biggest Irish traditional music festival in the world. Last year’s Fleadh was reported as being perhaps the biggest ever with approximately 650,000 visitors across the week.
It was a monumental achievement for Wexford town, which has long been recognized as a town rich in arts and culture. Home to Ireland’s National Opera House, Wexford has been hosting the renowned Wexford Opera Festival since 1951. In more recent years, since 2012 the yearly Wexford Spiegeltent Festival has attracted visitors from all over the country and beyond.
This May, a brand-new Wexford music festival will hit the streets. A festival that celebrates raw talent and the unsung heroes of Wexford’s music scene: buskers.
The first ever ‘Buskaphonic’ will take place in Wexford town on Saturday, 31st of May on Main Street between 11am and 4pm. It is an exciting new venture being launched by organisers JJ Bird and James Donegan.
As part of the festival, Wexford street performers are being invited to sign up to a competition wherein they will be allocated a busking spot on Main Street and observed by a panel of judges. Applicants are required to be at least 16 years of age and, if playing music, must play without amplification due to recent council bye-laws.
The festival is being sponsored by local businesses like The Orchard Recording Studio, Kenny Ruttledge Photography and Trax Music Store.
The performers are in for a chance to win some fantastic prizes that have been provided by the event’s sponsors. The prize for 1st place is a recording and mix of a song of the applicant’s choice provided by The Orchard Recording Studio. The 2nd place prize is a framed photo of the performer supplied by professional photographer Kenny Ruttledge. Finally, the prize for 3rd place is a €40 voucher from Wexford’s own Trax Music Store.
We had a chance to catch up with organiser JJ Bird to find out how the idea for Buskaphonic came about.
“We do events at the moment in the library – the Chapter and Verse collective – it’s a monthly event that I started up last year and James (Donegan) then came in to give me a hand with it because it was getting really busy. We said, ‘Let’s try something new’ and we came up with Buskaphonic. We thought, ‘Let’s give it a go and see if there’s a thirst for it.’ We’re very positive about it. We’ll see how this year goes but we want this to be the first year of many.”
When asked about his musical background, Bird humbly mentioned his family connection to well-known Irish musician Wallis Bird, a Wexford native now living in Germany. Bird has released seven studio albums including Home (2016) which was nominated for Best Irish Album of 2016 for the Choice Music Prize.
“There’s music in my family as well. I don’t know if you know Wallis Bird – she’s my sister. I’m trying to get her to play but I can’t because she lives in Germany so any time that she’s home, I don’t want to annoy her by saying ‘You’re on holiday. Would you like to work?’ (laughs).”
Bird was eager to stress that the festival is not only about music. Applicants with other street talents are welcome to apply as well.
“If you look up what ‘busking’ is, it can be any on-street performance or talent. We normally think of music but it could be anything. We’re involved with poetry with Chapter and Verse – someone could do poetry. Maybe someone has a magic act – why not do that as well? We might get more music than anything but if you want to do a dance or if you have some sort of performance you can do – absolutely sign up! Within reason, obviously. We can’t have flamethrowers or tightrope or anything like that.”
Another thing Bird felt was important for people to know is that applicants will be unable to use amplification during the festival in accordance with bye-laws passed last year. These bye-laws that restrict the noise level of busking to 65 decibels or less have been criticized by many for stifling the creativity of Wexford performers. Bird, however, believes these bye-laws won’t stop Wexford performers from showing their talent.
“We have to keep it acoustic. Maybe I shouldn’t say acoustic – I should say no amplification. You can’t have any speakers or anything like that and that’s just with the new bye-laws. That shouldn’t stop music. It should encourage it because it makes music more accessible. You don’t have to bring anything. You just go and do it. I love a concert as much as anyone, but I also love coming across somebody just playing a guitar or singing a song. Raw talent like that will always shine through. I know so many people who got their start busking with nothing but their voice and a guitar. You never know, we could find the next Dermot Kennedy.”
If you would like to apply enter Buskaphonic as a performer or would like more details, check out their Facebook page.
Luke Bradley
Luke is a student and a lover of all things Wexford. His favourite topics include Wexford history, entertainment and local events
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