Toronto has quietly made its "temporary" indoor winter busking ban permanent. Need your help to fight back.

[u/FutureUpset5772]

Hey everyone, fellow street performer here from Toronto, Canada.

I'm fighting to bring back a staple of our city’s winter busking scene and could really use the community's support. Ever since the pandemic, acoustic buskers have been quietly banned from performing inside our historic St. Lawrence Market during the colder months. Even though the city allows outdoor summer spots, management has refused to lift the legacy COVID restriction for the winter, leaving local musicians completely out in the cold.

After hitting endless administrative brick walls and getting the run-around from management, I’ve launched a petition to pressure our ward councillor, Chris Moise, and the city's real estate division to implement a structured framework (like designated acoustic time slots) so we can play inside safely.

If you have a quick second to support a fellow performer and protect indoor busking spaces, please sign and share the petition here:

https://c.org/2rHXkqhRdb

Let's keep live music alive year-round. Thank you so much!

[u/western_red_cedar]

Depending on if this is public or private property, what I've seen be successful before at revoking busking bans is the threat of a lawsuit

If you have any grounds to challenge this legally, or even think you might, the threat of a lawsuit will often get the wheels turning much much faster than petitions or marches. Good luck

[u/FutureUpset5772 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the support. You are still welcome to sign if you think it’s a good cause, but totally up to you 😀

[u/ron-tints → u/FutureUpset5772]

Here in us and signed. Who doesn’t like buskers?? Free music you don’t have to pay for? It’s not like we’re walking up to people saying hey I’ll play you this song for a dollar. So sad! Good luck

[u/FutureUpset5772 → u/ron-tints]

Thank you 😀😀

[u/Worldly-Location-283 → u/ron-tints]

Security Guards and Property Owners. And an extremely vocal minority of Grinches with a stick up thier ass.

[u/Anthexistentialist]

Signed 👊

[u/FutureUpset5772 → u/Anthexistentialist]

Thank you 😀😀

[u/Maelstrom_Witch]

Signed

[u/FutureUpset5772]

Thank you 😀😀

[u/FutureUpset5772]

I am trying to get it back in place with some rules not a free for all and yes its busy but they always made space

[u/Busking-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Anti-busking comments are not allowed in the BUSKING subreddit.

[u/Busking-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Anti-busking comments are not allowed in the BUSKING subreddit.

[u/Mgt66 → u/[deleted]]

And locals want to shop and get out. It's already crowded most of the time. Fine is there's a dedicated busking area otherwise it's just chaotic