Can you believe I have never attended a buskers festival? Last weekend Kingston hosted its 32nd edition of the Kingston Busker’s Rendezvous. I had to attend as it sounded like so much fun. My kids and I visited on Friday and had a great time.
We wanted to attend the fire show on Saturday night but at the last minute decided not to. I was worried about being able to see if we did not get there early enough. As well my youngest and I are both allergic to mosquitoes so nighttime activities are not the best choice of activity for us.
Sunday was the Buskers Grand Finale so we decided to go again and this time bring my husband along.
Being my first buskers festival I noticed a few things that annoyed me. I also learned a couple of things as a first-time attendee which led to the idea for this blog post.

5 Things NOT to do at a buskers festival
- Don’t leave your water at home or in the car. Busker festivals happen in the summer. My stupid self left my water bottles in the car. I was stupid thirsty so when my 15-year-old offered to buy us beavertails I instead asked him to buy me a drink.
- Don’t forget some cash. As I mentioned this was my first buskers festival. I had no idea how these things work. The buskers earn their living from our tips. Thankfully my 15-year-old had cash on him for the first performance we watched. I quickly found my way to the ATM after that show.
- If you are 6 feet tall please do not stand front row, second row or hell even third row. Try to align where you stand with your height to give everyone a fair chance to see the show. Got kids with you? Cool grab a seat in the first couple of rows. Notice I said grab a seat, not stand.
- Control your children. Yes, kids can be kids and when at the buskers festival they can get very excited. But when your kids who are like 10-year-olds decided to start standing up in front of others who are sitting don’t just sit there and keep watching the show while ignoring them. Tell them to sit down. Courtesy people COURTESY!!
- Bringing a lawn chair to the buskers festival? Please reserve using your lawn chair for a couple of rows back. Using your lawn chair in the front row is the same as standing in the front row. This also goes for those in wheelchairs as well. Yes, we had our view cut off for the grand finale when someone in a wheelchair decided to push their way to the front.
Want to attend next year?
The Kingston Buskers Rendezvous will be happening next year from July 6th – 9th and I am looking forward to attending again. Our family will be making it an annual tradition for as long as we are lucky enough to be posted to Kingston.
Looking for more fun things to do in Kingston? I got you, as I will be covering all the fun things we do while living in Kingston, Ontario.
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