The Big Busk’s night time programme will have a new feel for 2019 as the festival takes over the Frankwell area of Shrewsbury.
The popular street music festival – which is returning on Saturday 6 April after a year off – will be holding events in five venues across Frankwell with music beginning at 7pm.
Before that, more than 60 acts will be performing in the streets and shopping centres of Shrewsbury town centre from 10am to raise money for, and awareness of, Shrewsbury Ark, a centre for homeless and vulnerable people in the town.
The Frankwell evening takeover will see musicians hosting events at the five venues. The locations for Big Busk events are:
* The Wheatsheaf – hosted by The Monkey Sellers
* The Boathouse – hosted by Gareth Rhys Jones
* The Pourhouse – hosted by Top Bananas
* Ye Olde Buck’s Head Inn – hosted by Geoff Rogers
* In Good Hands Café – hosted by Smelly Cat Club
The evening entertainment is being co-ordinated by Big Busk organising team members Olly and Rebecca James.
Olly says, “We’re incredibly grateful to the venues for hosting shows for us to help raise money for the Ark. Their enthusiasm to be part of the Busk has been infectious.”
Rebecca adds, “We have to say a huge thank you to the artists who are hosting the gigs. They are all playing in the day and then going on to host these events at night – giving their time entirely free. We can’t thank them enough.”
The Busk was first held in 2013 in memory of talented musician, poet and artist Ben Bebbington, who died after an unprovoked attack by two men in September 2012.
The last Big Busk, in 2017, raised more than £8,500, but organisers took a break last year to manage some of the challenges which arise from the event getting bigger each year. The small core organising team also had many personal milestones, including a wedding, new babies, house moves and new jobs.
