Covent Garden: Street acts warn new rules could end performances

Street performers in Covent Garden have said proposed new licensing laws will "make it impossible" to continue.

Westminster Council is considering tougher restrictions after receiving an increased number of complaints about sites in London's West End.

Members of the Covent Garden Street Performers Association (CGSPA) believe rules about pitch size, sound amplification and dangerous items will effectively put an end to their acts.

The council will meet on 4 December.

During a previous committee meeting, councillors said current rules stopped them from holding significant enforcement powers without the involvement of the police and that the current approach did not go far enough.

The scheme was first introduced in 2021 and members of the council's committee will now be given three options: to discontinue the scheme, vary the scope of the scheme (limit it to fewer parts of London), or continue with the current scheme and prioritise resources (enlist more staff and the help of the police) to enforce it.

Councillor Aicha Less said: "We are not looking to introduce a ban on street performers and never have done.

"Buskers and street entertainers are a vibrant part of our city's culture and a popular attraction for visitors throughout the city. The meeting on 4 December will be an opportunity for the council to consider making small changes to the current policy."

The CGSPA has asked the committee to exempt Covent Garden from the Westminster-wide licence and leave the street performers to their own self-regulation, pointing out many complaints received by the council referred to Leicester Square rather than Covent Garden.

The suggested licence terms limit the amount of space performers can use, which according to the CGSPA will mean acts such as juggling and acrobatics will become impossible.

The group also believes a ban on sound amplification would eliminate magicians, while outlawing dangerous props would mean acts involving fire or knife-juggling, bullwhips and beds of nails will not be possible.

Street performing in the square dates back to 1662 at least, when Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary about a marionette show. Modern-day artists to have cut their teeth as street performers in Covent Garden include Cirque Du Soleil, STOMP and Dynamo.

Melvyn Altwarg and Peter Kolofsky, spokespeople for the CGSPA, said the area was "a breeding ground for talent who go on to wow audiences all over the world".

"For the past 40 years, the CGSPA has self-regulated its members to ensure they are well behaved and safe; this has been extraordinarily successful, but Westminster Council are making what we do illegal," they said.

"It is our organisation's opinion that the original imposition of this licence on Covent Garden's street performers amounts to sheer cultural vandalism of a beloved and quintessentially British artistic institution.

"Performers don't want to always be looking over their shoulders. They do not want to have been criminalised and they do not want the death of Covent Garden street theatre."

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