Busk in Mexico City

16 Focus Cities

There is a great deal of variation between the amount of regulation different cities impose on busking. There are also differences in how strictly that regulation is enforced.

In many cases there is a conflict of interest between policy makers and street performers when it comes to the policies adopted. As part of this research, we wanted to highlight the perspective of buskers towards these policies and refer to the difficulties that they face in  some cases.

The following sixteen reports on key focus cities illustrate many of the different regulatory approaches to busking. They assess how strictly the regulations are applied and contain feedback on the effects of the regulations from buskers in the featured cities.

The reports are listed alphabetically. First by country and then by city for those countries in which more than one city is featured. Each city is given a grade or score which is the combined value of the factors and regulations governing busking in that city.

In general, busking is considered legal in London but individual boroughs have a large degree of autonomy in their approach to street performers. We have featured the borough of Camden as well as Greater London because Camden’s regulatory system has recently become more restrictive.

Mexico City, Mexico

Grade: -5

– Ranking 14th (last)

— Busking is considered to be illegal.

— The legal implications for busking are a fine or even equipment seizure.

— Despite the prohibition, there seems to be a strong and vivid busking scene in Mexico City.

—  The local busking culture is strongly rooted on national traditions such as Mariachi and  organ players.