THUNDER BAY — Adrienne Kidd says it was a random occurrence that she became the stilts performer known as The Kidd.
“I’m totally in love with Cirque du Soleil and costume and performance,” said Kidd, towering over a small group of people gathered on Algoma Street on Wednesday morning to unveil plans for the city's 10th annual Buskers Festival.
The Kidd has been performing at the festival since its inception and will be back walking Algoma and Bay streets high above the crowd on July 26 and 27.
Buskers Festival organizer, Uriel Lubuk, said it’s awesome to see how the festival has grown since 2013.
“We're getting international talent, buskers that are performing across the country at larger festivals and it's cool to see that they're coming to our small humble festival that has been growing,” he said.
This year’s talent includes Steve Goodtime, who has appeared on America’s Got Talent. His act is a mix of high-flying tricks and rock and roll guitar solos with comedy sprinkled in.
Also on tap is Seb & Fritzzz – a whip performer paired with a beatbox champion, and Kazimir the Hungry who not only is a fire-eater, but also a sword-swallowing glass-eater.
And the festival hasn’t forgotten about the local talent either. Back to play are the Bay Street Bastards, who have performed at every Buskers Festival in Thunder Bay. Also from the local scene are the Taiko drummers and Women in Silk.
“To sum it up, it's really awesome to see how the festival's grown and then also the people that have helped us since day one and it's something that I know people look forward to,” said Lubuk.
The event is family-friendly and free to attend and begins at noon both days.
New this year is Saturday’s hours will be extended by four hours to 9 p.m. to fit in more talent and also give the fire-breathers some relief for the hot July weather.
The festival’s financial director and owner of Nook, Caitlin Jeffs, said the neighbourhood is excited for the festival’s return this summer.
“We think it is something that's really brought this community together over the last decade and a half really because we had a bit of a gap during COVID,” she said. “For me it's personal. I've got three kids. We've been coming down since it started and it's always a really nice family weekend down here.”
Jeffs added the city has a few dominant business communities like the Bay and Algoma area and this festival invites the rest of the city to the neighbourhood.
“It's nice to bring people from other parts of the city down for a weekend, whether they're spending money in our businesses that weekend or not. It's a little reminder of what we are,” she said.
“Families can come down … and I think it really benefits everybody, but for us in this neighbourhood it means we get to highlight who we are and the fact that we are a neighbourhood.”
Festival organizers are also still looking for vendors, including a few food vendors.
More information is available on the Buskers Festival website.
