It's time to add buskers

You don't have to be jabbed by the pointy end of a garden windmill, rain gauge or some other yard tchotchke over the next few days to realize the Fargo Street Fair is in full swing.

Traffic will be backed up in a five block radius of Broadway as families file across intersections like ducks, or the Beatles on the "Abbey Road" cover. Parking spots will become prime real estate as vendors cart caravans of crafts off to market.

You can practically feel the street fair in the air, or at least a sticky residue. Clouds from batter-fried-grease-on-a-stick will hang over downtown like toxic pall. That may sound bad, but any grease or cheese spilled on the sidewalk should serve as a protective sealant coating for the decorative brickwork on Broadway intersections.

Still, the real tell-tale sign of the street fair isn't caused by dawdling drivers or the sun diffused by wafts of heat and grease. Just turn your ear toward downtown, and you'll tune into an unfamiliar sound.

No, they haven't stopped the train whistles yet. Listen closely, and you'll hear live music coming from Broadway.

If past fairs are any indication, there will be a handful of folksingers with homemade instruments, a steel drum band and at least one Peruvian pan flute act playing Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight."

These traveling troupes are sure to attract crowds, but area residents shouldn't have to wait for the Downtown Street Fair to hear street musicians in downtown.

Granted, there are a number of Broadway venues that already offer live music. The Hotel Donaldson hosts regular jazz gigs (the Simon Rowe trio plays tonight), the VFW has bands on the weekend and the Aquarium, above Dempsey's Public House, has a fairly full schedule all week long.

Street performers, or "buskers," however, add color - not always so much talent - to the character of a town. On Grafton Street in Dublin I passed a string quartet playing classical music, a teen tunelessly wailing Oasis' "Wonderwall," a head banger amped up and thrashing out Metallica's "Whiplash" and got chewed out by (finally) a traditional Irish band for taking their picture without tipping. I promptly went back and gave the metal head a pound, though I doubt in the flurry of hair he ever saw it.

Now, I'm sure some people think street musicians are just panhandlers. Yes and no. Traditionally they do rely on tips, but because of their gear, they're not really free to roam and you can easily hear them coming up and choose to cross the street to avoid them.

Fargo should work out a deal with street performers, allowing authorized acts to work the streets for tips, with the city taking a small cut which can be reinvested in downtown. Kind of like civic pimping.

Establishing quality control would ensure each performer is approachable and proficient. For example, guitarists would have to demonstrate a Deep Purple/ Lynyrd Skynyrd/ Led Zeppelin/ Eagles medley of "Smoke on the Free Bird Stairway to Hotel California."

It's time for downtown Fargo to step up the entertainment and put area musicians where they belong - out on the street. Even if you wouldn't drop a dollar to hear a local pan flautist trill off "Wonderful Tonight," the walk across the street to avoid would help burn off calories from that mochafrappachino martini or batter-dipped-deep-fried-cheeseball-on-a-stick.

Readers can reach Forum Features Editor John Lamb at (701) 241-5533