Busking on the Streets of Dublin

There is a strong busking culture in Dublin’s city centre. In fact busking is completely legal and encouraged. Silent mime artists, animated jugglers, balloon sculptors, lively puppeteers, exotic fire eaters, comedians, bands, singers and even giant leprechauns can be found along the pedestrian streets of Temple Bar, Henry and Grafton Street.

One Dublin busker was even booked to perform for the Oscars. Glen Howard a singer in the band The Frames, busked on Grafton street for 5 years, since then he acted in the award winning film the Commitments and recently co-starred alongside Marketa Irglova in Once, a film based around busking on the streets of Dublin.

Other famous buskers also include Rodrigo Y Gabriela a Mexican guitar playing duo, David McSavage a successful comedian who garnered laughs on a street corner for years before getting his break. Bono the lead singer from U2 also had an impromptu gig on Grafton Street one Christmas. So you never know who you might see.

The Street Performance World Championship is also held in Dublin in June and worth checking out if you are travelling during this time. It is a gathering of the very best street artists and performers from all over the world who come to Dublin for this event.

Many artists use busking as a way of making a few euros, others sometimes use it as a way of promoting their work to a large audience of passersby, whatever the reason you are more than welcome to join in the fun on the streets of Dublin.