What do buskers Crystal Bowersox, Philippe Petit, and Glen Hansard all have in common? These buskers have all made mucho dinero doing what naturally comes best.Crystal Bowersox was runner up on the ninth season of “American Idol”. She presently has made over half a million dollars in music sales and appearances.

Philip Petit, the famous Frenchman who tightrope walked between the now-extinct trade towers in Manhatten, has enjoyed a Hollywood movie remake of his feat in "The Walk" no doubt enjoying countless Francs in revenue and licensing fees.

Glen Hansard has made a bundle peddling the Indy movie "Once". Between touring and the play on Broadway, Hansard has made lots of money off the film that won a Oscar for best song. It was a stormy inheritance from street to sta...

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(SWITZERLAND) An interesting page at Swiss Info has many busking attractions, pictures, and related stories starting in the nation's capital with the Berne Buskers Festival.Celebrating its 12th year this summer, the three-day event featured 42 acts with 145 performers from 18 countries. Half of the acts were musical with the rest involving clowns, dancers, human statues, and other artists.

Related busking stories and pictures take us around Switzerland to Basel, Biel, and Montreux as well as podcast on what it's like to be a busker in Berne.

A reporter for Busker Central entered a Buskerfest contest in Luzern back in 1992. Unfortunately, the city was given a bad reputation when the contest was found to be "won" by a professional opera singer who had stumbled outside. Her father also happened...

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(BOULDER) Ever since the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado opened in 1976, it has undergone a series of rebirths along the winding way. Now home to human statues, jugglers, fire acts, and of course, musicians, "the mall" has settled down into it's present day form. New pitches have been created so now there's room for everybody at any given time.Boulder is one of the most popular cities on the international busker trail. While most tourists don't know it, the mall has essentially expanded to a full 10 blocks. The tourists continue through stop lights on either end and get to enjoy a much larger and thusly more dynamic Pearl Street Mall. Famous for being first in the modern red-brick style, "street furniture" (benches and seats) line the pedestrian-only walkways...

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Hard-working busker Derek Allan is about to embark on his toughest gig yet - playing 10 sets of 10 hours in 10 different venues.The singer-songwriter’s fundraising efforts will see him play for 10 consecutive nights as he pulls out all the stops to help Grace House Hospice Appeal to reach its latest target.

And not content with that, he is issuing a universal offer of help to any small charities or individuals who need a helping hand getting together the money they need.

Derek, 34, from Red Row in Northumberland, first came to the attention of Journal readers when he performed seven consecutive 12-hour gigs in seven different Northumberland pubs, with no backing group.

The exertion left Derek, who suffers from epilepsy, exhausted and he almost fainted several times during the g...

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(SAN DIEGO) Hosting buskers from around the country, the Seaport Village Spring Busker Festival is quickly becoming one of the premiere busking venues in the United States.Celebrating it's 6th year, perhaps the reason for success of the two day event is actually Seaport Village General Manager Terry Hall. Having spent time in Europe, Hall is familiar with the customary busker and wants Americans to understand the respect due these facinating performers. He is literally bringing a world standard to a culture-starved nation.

The great tradition of busking has given rise to busker festivals around the world. Pier 39 in San Francisco, Faneuil Hall in Boston, Covent Garden in London, The Halifax International Busker Festival in Canada, the Christchurch World Buskers Festival in New Zealand, and the Adelaide Fringe...

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