Editing Street performance (section)

== History ==
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| image1    = Cego Rabequista GPEG.jpg
| width1    = 180
| caption1  = 1855 painting of a street musician, [[O Pobre Rabequista]] (The Poor Rabeca Player), by [[José Rodrigues]]
| image2    = Eugène Atget, Organ-grinder, 1898–99.jpg
| width2    = 194
| caption2  = An organ grinder in Paris, photographed by [[Eugène Atget]], {{circa|1898–99}}
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There have been performances in public places for [[gratuities]] in every major culture in the world, dating back to [[ancient history|antiquity]]. For many musicians, street performance was the most common means of employment before the advent of [[sound recording|recording]] and personal electronics.<ref name="BF">Baird, Stephen (2000).[http://www.buskersadvocates.org/saahistory.html#saafranklin "The History and Cultural Impact of Street Performing in America: Ben Franklin"]. Street Performers and Buskers Advocates. Retrieved 2010-06-10.</ref> Prior to that, a person had to produce any music or entertainment, save for a few mechanical devices such as the [[barrel organ]], the [[music box]], and the [[piano roll]]. [[Organ grinder]]s were commonly found busking in the 19th century and early 20th century.

Busking is common among some [[Romani people]]. Romantic mention of Romani music, dancers and fortune tellers are found in all forms of song poetry, prose and lore. The Roma brought the word busking to England by way of their travels along the [[Mediterranean]] coast to Spain and the Atlantic Ocean and then up north to England and the rest of Europe.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In medieval France, buskers were known by the terms [[troubadour]]s and ''jongleurs''. In northern France, they were known as ''trouveres''. In old German, buskers were known as [[Minnesingers]] and ''Spielleute''. In obsolete French, it evolved to ''busquer'' for "seek, prowl" and was generally used to describe [[prostitute]]s. In Russia, buskers are called ''[[skomorokh]]'', and their first recorded history appears around the 11th century.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

[[Mariachi]]s, Mexican bands that play a style of music by the same name, frequently busk when they perform while traveling through streets and plazas, as well as in restaurants and bars.<ref name="WebsterMariachi">[http://www.webster.com/dictionary/mariachi "mariachi"] Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary</ref>

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|quote=We like playing for big crowds, and the goal all along has been for people to pay a little to come and see us. But it all started on street corners, and that is still very connected to what we do. It's such a validating musical experience. Busking is a very humble and brave act that takes courage to do well. It's also about the energy of music being alive outside in a city ... You can walk right by it right in front of you. Sure, to some people you're just another guy with his hand out, so sometimes busking can be great social barometer. You're able to gauge who you live with on earth.<ref name=Ferris>{{cite news|last=Ferris|first=Jedd|title=Catching Up With ... Old Crow Medicine Show|url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/09/catching-up-with-old-crow-medicine-show.html|access-date=28 September 2012|newspaper=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|date=25 September 2008}}</ref>|source=Ketch Secor, [[Old Crow Medicine Show]]}}

Around the mid-19th century Japanese ''[[Chindonya]]'' started to be seen using their skills for advertising, and these street performers are still occasionally seen in Japan. Another Japanese street performance form dating from the [[Edo period]] is [[Nankin Tamasudare]], in which the performer creates large figures using a bamboo mat.
[[File:BOURCARD(1853) p1.192 - I VIGGIANESI.jpg|thumb|300px|''I Viggianesi'', street musicians from [[Viggiano]], Italy. Work by [[Filippo Palizzi]], 1853]]
In the 19th century, Italian street musicians (mainly from [[Liguria]], [[Emilia Romagna]], [[Basilicata]]) began to roam worldwide in search of fortune. Musicians from [[Basilicata]], especially the so-called ''[[Viggiano|Viggianesi]]'', would later become professional instrumentalists in symphonic orchestras, especially in the [[United States]].<ref>[[International Council for Traditional Music]], ''Report from the International Meeting of the International Council for Traditional Music's Study Group on Folk Musical Instruments, Volume 11'', Musikmuseet, 1992, p. 54</ref> The street musicians from Basilicata are sometimes cited as an influence on [[Hector Malot]]'s ''[[Sans Famille]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=L'arpa perduta - L'identità dei musicanti girovaghi |url=http://www.consiglio.basilicata.it/consiglionew/files/docs/28/54/62/DOCUMENT_FILE_285462.pdf|publisher=consiglio.basilicata.it|author=Eva Bonitatibus |language = it, en|access-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref>

In the United States, [[medicine show]]s proliferated in the 19th century. They were traveling vendors selling [[elixir]]s and [[potion]]s which purportedly improved people's health. They would often employ entertainment acts as a way of drawing in potential clients and relaxing them. The people would often associate this feeling of well-being with the products sold. After these performances, they would "pass the hat".{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

[[One-man band]]s have historically performed as buskers playing a variety of instruments simultaneously. One-man bands proliferated in urban areas in the 19th and early 20th centuries and still perform to this day. A current one-man band plays all their instruments acoustically usually combining a guitar, a harmonica, a drum and a tambourine. They may also include singing. Many still busk but some are booked to play at festivals and other events.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

[[Folk music]] has always been an important part of the busking scene. Cafe, restaurant, bar and pub busking is a mainstay of this art form. The [[delta blues]]men were mostly itinerant musicians emanating from the Mississippi Delta region of the USA around the early 1940s and on. [[B.B. King]] is one famous example who came from these roots.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

[[File:Dancing in Sutton High Street cropped.jpg|thumb|300px|Dancers in [[Sutton High Street]], [[Sutton, London]], England]]

The [[counterculture]] of the [[hippie]]s of the 1960s occasionally staged "be-ins", which resembled some present-day [[buskers festival]]s. Bands and performers would gather at public places and perform for free, passing the hat to make money. The [[San Francisco Bay Area]] was at the epicenter of this movement – be-ins were staged at [[Golden Gate Park]] and [[San Jose, California|San Jose]]'s Bee Stadium and other venues. Some of the bands that performed in this manner were [[Janis Joplin]] with [[Big Brother and the Holding Company]], the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Jefferson Airplane]], [[Quicksilver Messenger Service]], [[Country Joe and the Fish]], [[Moby Grape]] and [[Jimi Hendrix]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

[[Christmas carol]]ing can also be a form of busking, as [[wassailing]] included singing for alms, [[wassail]] or some other form of refreshment such as [[figgy pudding]]. In the Republic of Ireland, the traditional Wren Boys, and in England [[Morris Dancing]] can be considered part of the busking tradition.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In India and Pakistan's [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] region, [[Bhavai]] is a form of street art where there are plays enacted in the village, the [[barot (caste)|barot]] or the village singer also is part of the local entertainment scene.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In the 2000s, some performers have begun "Cyber Busking". Artists post work or performances on the Internet for people to download or "stream" and if people like it they make a donation using [[PayPal]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}