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Burning Rings Of Fire
“Busker? Don’t even know ‘er!” jokes aside, Toronto’s annual street performer extravaganza is back until Sunday with a new roster of bizarre talents from around the globe.
Buskerfest, the last of the major summer street festivals, draws about 350,000 spectators over four days and it’s the best place to see someone jam a sword down one’s esophagus up close. Magicians and balloon artists are also present for the kiddies, and there are plenty of food vendors standing by with tubs of Dippin’ Dots or cobs of barbecued corn dipped in butter. The festival also features a variety of local artisans with wares to sell.
Participants this year hail from across Canada, Australia, India, Russia, Bolivia, Japan, and France, as well as the United States and U.K. Local personalities like Chalkmaster Dave, Statues Alive and the All-Star Skateboard Circus will also be featured. If spitting a mouthful of flaming naphtha is a little too scary for the young ones, note that the more twisted entertainment happens in the evening hours. Tonight brings together the best of the fire performers for the Fire In The Sky show at 10 p.m. (rain date is tomorrow night).
Buskerfest 2007 is located in the St. Lawrence Market area, on Front Street between Church and Jarvis. Admission is free, though on-site donations in support of Epilepsy Toronto are encouraged.
Top left photo by uwajedi; top right and bottom left by ever_moire; bottom right by sthursby; all from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.