Waterford’s annual busking festival BuskAid will go ahead in 2020 for its fifth year in the form of a series of online events. A host of online concerts and events will be streamed throughout December and in the lead up to Christmas in an effort to raise much need funds for Tinteán Housing Association, including a very special live stream concert, BuskAid Live, celebrating the best of Waterford talent. 

Since 2015 BuskAid has raised over €22,000 for local homelessness charities in Waterford at Christmas. The campaign has grown year after year and is Waterford’s only busking festival, leading to national recognition for the work it has done in the past four years. Now entering its fifth, the show goes on in the hope that it can continue raising as much money as possible for our charity partner, Tinteán Housing Association. Tinteán Housing Association offers women and families accommodation with support, providing them with the necessary skills and help they need to leave homelessness behind.

BuskAid are setting the people of Waterford two challenges this year. They encourage people to make the most of the outdoors and Do 5K for BuskAid, sharing their progress and the event’s donation link with their friends online. BuskAid are also encouraging people to Busk From Your Bedroom – perform a song in your bedroom, upload it to social media, share the donation link and challenge three friends to do the same. 

As well as these challenges, there are three events lined up for Christmas week. On Monday the 21st of December, BuskAid are working in collaboration with Steven Stubbs and StubVid Media to do a special BuskAid Quizcast live on Facebook, which will include an online raffle as well. Tuesday the 22nd of December will see the returned of the extremely popular Jordan’s Session in the Jordan’s American Bar group page on Facebook. 

The final event of the calendar, on the 23rd of December, will see festivities come to a close with BuskAid Live. Live-streamed from the Waterford In Your Pocket Facebook page, the concert will be a telethon style celebration of the best of Waterford talent. 

Speaking about the different events, volunteer coordinator Anna Jordan said “what we really wanted to do was make sure we’re engaging with the community. The beauty of BuskAid has always been that we’re surrounded by a fantastic group of artists dedicating their time and talents for a special cause, and through that reaching people on every street corner in the town. We want to do the same this year, virtually”.

Speaking about the importance of this year’s BuskAid, busking coordinator Derek Flynn said; “It’s been a really tough year on everyone, especially charities. Tinteán Housing Association lost a lot of opportunities to raise much-needed funds for the project this year so we’re really hoping that that the people of Waterford get on board with us and donate as much as possible”.

For more information on this year’s events, check out their Facebook page here.