Ferrara Buskers Festival 2026
Date
Prices
Tickets: 12 euros
Open ticket: 18 euros (ticket with no fixed date)
- Free:
Children: born on or after 01/01/13 accompanied by one adult holding a valid ticket or season ticket.
- People with disabilities (for further information: biglietti@ferrarabuskers.org)
Reduced price of €9 for:
- Carers with people with disabilities
- Young people born on or before 31/12/2012 and up to the age of 18
- Over 65
The largest and oldest Buskers Festival hosting artists from all over the world, in the historical centre of Ferrara
The Ferrara Buskers Festival is the largest event in the world dedicated to street performers. The project was born in 1987 from the mind of Stefano Bottoni, lover of music and himself a musician.
Various ideas have sprung into his head but one, above all, gave life to the project. A newspaper article published on the 30th of July 1987, mentioned two musicians, with drums and guitar, removed from by the police force. Stefano Bottoni therefore thought that there could be a city, or at least a period, in which one could play on the street: his town, Ferrara. Stefano brought his idea to the Mayor who, unexpectedly, immediately supported it.
Probably the recent trip to New York had brought him closer to the street musicians seen in Time Square and he wished for a more cosmopolitan Ferrara. It was necessary to create the organization and the working force. Having written the project and made the team - the same Association active today - it was necessary to find a strong and international name.
Thus, the word Buskers was also known in Italy, thanks to which today everyone knows and recognizes as the figure of the street musician.
Program
Featuring over 250 artists from 19 different countries, more than 60 performances every evening, talks, readings, workshops and exhibitions!
From Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 August:
• 7.00 pm: festival opening
• 7.00 pm – 8.00 pm: talks, workshops, readings, exhibitions, food areas, market and performances whilst waiting for the buskers
• 8.00 pm – midnight: busker performances (in alternating one-hour slots so you don’t miss a single artist!)
•From midnight: After-festival party in the Courtyard of the Castello Estense, featuring DJ sets and electronic music by buskers (free entry)
Sunday 30 August:
• 4.00 pm: festival opens with talks, workshops, exhibitions, food area and market, plus performances whilst waiting for the buskers
• 5.00 pm – 9.00 pm: busker performances (in alternating one-hour slots so you don’t miss a single artist!)
• 9.00 pm: Final Party in the Courtyard of the Castle (until midnight). (Free entry)
