Party atmosphere for buskers festival finale

PATRICK HAMILTON/The Nelson Mail

DINNER THEATRE: Steve Kelly, of Nelson, and daughters Grace, 8, and Layla, 5, get into their fish and chips during Sunday evening's final Buskerburgoo show in Trafalgar St.

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There was some new blood among the old hats at the finale of the Buskerburgoo Buskers and Street Theatre Series and no doubt that is the way former organiser, the late Kim Merry, would have liked it.

The three-day buskers festival came to a close last night with about 1500 people crowding into the top of Trafalgar St to get a peek at some of Australasia's finest street performers.

Five-year-old Nelson boy Jet Jones was so inspired by buskers last year he had even put together his own routine and ended up performing on stage alongside stalwart act Fuse Circus.

The night also saw the launch of the Kim Merry Foundation, designed to encourage local performing arts and street theatre.

Festival organiser Chris Morley-Hall, who took over from Mr Merry after 14 years, said he hoped the trust would foster up-and-coming talent within the region.

"With these incredible performers that come here (for the festival) we would hope to bring them out a bit earlier to allow them to work with and workshop with a few people that would benefit from their knowledge."

Mr Morley-Hall has run Wellington's Cuba St Carnival for the past 10 years and said he had been impressed with the turnout for the Buskerburgoo Buskers and Street Theatre Series.

He said bringing the festival's acts into one area created more of a party atmosphere. "Everyone seemed really happy with the way it went and it really seems to work up on Trafalgar St. It's a natural place for something like that."