Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival 1989

Phil winners Cindy Marvell, John Nations and the Howard family

(photo by Bill Giduz)

 

FESTIVALS

                  TALES FROM GROUNDHOG  DAY  

UNDERGROUND ATLANTA IS RISING AGAIN!

 

The usual non-stop entertainment from the 11th annual Groundhog Day Juggler's Festival in Atlanta was interrupted by a little business.

 

On Saturday morning of the Feb. 3-5 gathering in the Inman School gym in Atlanta , Vince Patrick, marketing manager for the new Underground Atlanta, presented his expectations for street performing opportunities there. He said Underground will be a "lifestyle" unto itself, comprising shops, restaurants, bars, offices and apartments.

 

He said the City of Atlanta is spending $142 million to develop the six-block area located at the center-city mass transit stop. However, Patrick's employer, the Rouse Company - Atlanta has been retained to perform the leasing, marketing and management efforts.

 

Buskers will be an important part of Underground's marketing, Patrick said. Hearing that they would be allowed to operate legally downtown was good news for many jugglers there. Atlanta has never been a city friendly to street performance before.

 

Patrick said Rouse Company currently operates six other downtown complexes nationwide which use buskers. They include Union Station in St. Louis , Faneuil Hall in Boston , Harborplace in Baltimore , South Street Seaport in New York , and River Walk in New Orleans.  Patrick admitted, however, that buskering has worked better at some of those than at others. A variety of different buskering arrangements exist.

 

Patrick came to the convention asking help from those attending to make fair and equitable Underground buskering arrangements well before the project's June 15 public opening.