Nottingham residents enjoy the music performed at the Big Busk.
Last weekend BBC Nottingham staged a special Big Busk day in honour of busker Frank Robinson known locally as Xylophone Man. Assistant Editor Sophie Shardlow reflects on the day.
It has been the most amazing day. We woke up to rain and grey skies which was disastrous for a busking festival – would anyone turn up? But after weeks planning the BBC Big Busk was upon us: all we could do now is cross our fingers!
First thing, we set up for a 4-hour live radio show in Nottingham's Market Square with only a man with an owl on his shoulder for company. But how things quickly changed. The rain stopped and the fun began.
Forty buskers performed around Nottingham including a city rap crew, a guitar playing cowboy, a string trio plus jugglers and 12 foot horn players. Quite a line-up. The city was buzzed and the sun shone.
Music unites people. It makes you stop and smile and adds such a vibe to the streets. Little wonder the buskers were so pumped with the reaction from the crowds. One busker said her guitar string broke mid-song and a fellow busker who was watching just handed her his guitar – such were the feelings of goodwill. Elsewhere, a young lad who busking for the first time, was visibly overwhelmed by the reaction from the crowd. People were filming and photographing. Everything felt so very special.
There were babies and pensioners, people in wheelchairs and on skateboards, all of them joining in the finale as about a thousand of people sang 'Happy' and danced with sheer joy. The brightest smiles accompanied such a feeling of camaraderie - a real sense of making a moment in Nottingham's history.
Sophie Shardlow is Assistant Editor, BBC Nottingham
