Denver lost one of its signature events Thursday when the promoter pulled the plug on the Denver International Buskerfest, citing a dearth of sponsorship money.
“It has not dried up, but there’s just not enough,” promoter Al Kraizer said. “To put it in the best terms, there is a lot more going on in Denver now. So there is a lot more competition for the sponsorship dollars.”
This would have been the 13th year for the popular event had it gone off Sept. 9-11 as scheduled.
Kraizer had lined up some small sponsors but fell short of the $100,000 or so needed.
“We could have cut back and had a smaller event,” he said. “But I love this event too much to do that to the audience or the performers.”
Susan Rogers Kark of the Downtown Denver Partnership noted that the Buskerfest was one of the first events staged to bring visitors downtown and to the 16th Street Mall. It did that from the start and grew significantly in popularity.
The Buskerfest was a blocks-long international sideshow that featured offbeat acts scattered along the mall.
Performers played spoons, brought rock ‘n’ roll stars to life via puppets, performed basketball tricks, tumbled and juggled tennis and bowling balls. One young man could instantly cite the ZIP code for any neighborhood in the U.S. – all he needed was the street and city.
Above all, the buskers brought humor and boisterous fun to downtown. The buskers lived on tips, and festivalgoers honored the pass-the-hat ethos.
Kraizer said in each of the last three years an estimated 180,000 people attended.
Rogers Kark and Kraizer said they hope the Buskerfest can be revived next year. Kraizer said he could still stage the event if major sponsors walked through his door today.
Earlier this year, Kraizer ended Lo DoFest, his downtown music festival, after 13 years. He cited space problems.
Staff writer Ed Will can be reached at 303-820-1694 or ewill@denverpost.com.
