Street performance in Hong Kong

Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places. Busking is legal in Hong Kong and all street performers are protected under Hong Kong Basic Law Article 34.Hong Kong government does not apply licensing system for street performers and there is no official data about the number of street performers in Hong Kong.

Located at Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok, music, speaker, sirens and horns can be loudly heard. The Hong Kong government has adopted pedestrian schemes for this street, in which it prohibits vehicles to pass by from 4pm to 10pm on Monday to Saturday; and from noon to 10pm on Sunday and public holidays.

Street performers perform whatever they want in public space, unless they pose a "noise nuisance". There has been varied performances related to music, dancing, and acting for a talent show. Among street performers in Sai Yeung Choi Street, Mr Funny is the first one to get prosecuted in 2005.

The opening hours of Mong Kok’s Sai Yeung Choi Street has been shortened to weekends and holiday since November,2013. The escalating number of complaints regarding noise and crowds by Mong Kok residents and shop owners led to this change. Street performance in the streets is not under any regulation currently. Street performers perform freely along the pedestrian zone. However, the residents who live just beyond the street have long endured the noise created by the performances. The street is also overwhelmed with audiences, blocking the way of pedestrians and disturbs shops operation.

The government has launched an Open Stage Pilot for six month from July and December 2010. Street performers were allowed to perform in the provided space. Those spaces included Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Sha Tin Town Hall and Kwai Tsing Theatre. The scheme did not continue because of lack of usage. People gave negative feedbacks that the scheme has many limitations to the performers and the locations were far away from the crowd. Suggestions indicate that Hong Kong might take reference to Munich in Germany or United Kingdom, where the countries regulate street performances by licensing system. The latest plan of government has considered this suggestion, and decided to organize the street performers in the pedestrian by a license system. However the details still remain to be further discussed. People, including street performers and other related stakeholders hold different opinion towards this licensing regulation.

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Wikipedia