After 15 years busking outside Bluesfest, bagpiper Nico Gravel is calling it quits
Gravel, a fixture on Booth Street during the festival, says the shift to cashless payments has made busking unsustainable. He's heading to European festivals instead.
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For 15 years, Nico Gravel has greeted Bluesfest crowds pouring out of LeBreton Flats each night with the unmistakable sound of bagpipes. On Saturday night, after HARDY's headlining set, many slowed along Booth Street to dance a jig, toss dollars into his case, or simply thank him for years of music. After this year's festival, though, he's done.
Gravel plans to spend future Julys busking at festivals across Europe while continuing to live and work in Ottawa as an osteopath the rest of the year. He said tourists overseas are more likely to carry cash, and the festival season better aligns with his vacation from work. His decision reflects a broader challenge facing street performers across Ottawa: fewer people carry cash in their wallets.
"It's really hard for buskers to pick up cash when there's no cash," Gravel said. "People aren't as ready to throw down a card or something like that, which I understand because of the amount of scams and everything else."
He recently installed a tap machine to accept electronic payments, but says many people remain reluctant to use it. As a result, the amount he earns during Bluesfest has steadily declined over the years. Saturday night also offered a glimpse of how much the busking scene around Bluesfest has changed. Near Pimski Station, only Gravel and two other bands were performing after Hardy's concert. Gravel remembers years when far more musicians lined the route. "It's really quiet this year," he said. "Even last year we had five buskers on the street. Now we have two."
Gabriel Glendon, whose band has busked at Bluesfest for the past two years just up Booth Street from Gravel's regular spot, said the veteran piper has become someone newer performers look up to. "You don't really see bagpipers as buskers, but when you see it, it's wonderful," Glendon said. "To hear he's been doing it for 15 years, he's the veteran. If we ever came across issues as new buskers, he could easily answer a question."
Gravel picked up the bagpipes at 13 after his parents banned drums from the house. "They said no drums in the house," he said with a laugh. "So I wanted to pick the next most annoying instrument I could think of." Thirty years later, he still takes lessons and performs at weddings, funerals and ceremonies.
