Kamloops city staff want to clear a lane for buskers to perform with a newly-proposed policy.

City events supervisor Sean Smith says with the policy, buskers would have an application vetted by the Kamloops Art Council. He says similar policies are in place in other cities.

“I do know that many cities are making it easier for street performers and buskers to perform in their cities without having a whole bunch of red tape to get through.”

He says buskers would pay $30 dollars for a membership in the Arts Council and $10 dollars for a street-performing fee.

“What that $40 dollars gets them is support that the Arts Council can provide, as well as keep a record of all the performers who we have in town. So when people ask who some performers are in our community, we’ll at least know where we can find them.

“We see the difference between buskers and panhandling, as buskers are fairly proficient in an entertainment value. We do have a bylaw that addresses panhandling that will continue to be followed, but buskers do live on tips and contributions from the public who they’re entertaining. Quite often it’s quite a legitimate business.”

Smith says a draft policy will come to council sometime before the second-annual International Buskers Festival, which will happen in July.