The Devil's in the Decibels

I live near to three churches. The closest is a Polish Catholic church that is about 250m (800ft) away. Their bells ring three times a day and are loud enough to wake my neighbours.

If that church’s priest made as loud a noise when busking, he’d quickly be arrested, because society values the rights of the religious more than the artistic.

Here’s an email on why the unwillingness of governments to look anti-religion ends up making them anti-busking…and maybe how you can use that to your advantage.

Both busking and preaching make noise. Both use amplification. Both are done in public spaces. And both are frequently covered by the same laws. Some recent examples:

🇬🇧 In 2023, Staffordshire council passed new rules that apply to buskers and preachers. Nottingham council is considering new bye laws that will limit both activities. 🇨🇦 In 2016, two Toronto councillors tabled a motion to temporarily ban busking and street preaching at Yonge and Dondas, which only failed when the council’s vote was split 15:15. That same year, a similar law in Edmonton succeeded.

This makes no sense. The two are distinct enough activities that councils have no need to pass legislation that covers both.

For a start, busking is an effort to entertain people. It has benefits for the artist, the arts in general and society at large that are both tangible and measurable.

Conversely, street preachers often attempt to strike fear in passersby, warning of eternal damnation if ye don’t repent, trying to save your soul after you’re dead. Many spread unpopular messages of hate. One funny example: a Christian preacher once handed me a leaflet that used chocolate as a confused metaphor for being gay: too much chocolate will make you fat, while too much gaying will send you to hell.

Lawmakers usually narrowly target their bills. For example, cafes and bakeries are treated differently under law. Hairdressers and nail salons. Physiotherapists and massage therapists. Butchers and delicatessens. Wine shops and wine bars. Cinemas and theatres. Opticians and optometrists. Flower shops and garden centres.

Why not busking and preaching?

I think there are two reasons. One is that lawmakers are afraid of appearing anti-religious—and will therefore lose votes—if they don’t hide anti-preaching legislation within a generic anti-noise law.

🇦🇺 In 2013, Adelaide council won a lengthy court battle with two street preachers, then promptly passed a law that restricted both preaching and busking. 🇬🇧 Just five days ago (as of writing this), a Sheffield councillor said “I don’t want anyone shouting that I’m doomed to go to hell,” and is therefore calling for a clamp down on busking and street preaching. Last year, Leicester City council passed anti-busking laws that don’t even mention preaching, and yet, according to many, these laws were designed to target preachers.

🇮🇪 Limerick, like Leicester City, has a page on their website explaining that their ‘street noise nuisance laws’ cover busking and preaching. Like Leicester City, they came into effect last year. Like Leicester City, the text (which is titled the “Limerick Street Performance and Busker Bye Laws 2025”) doesn’t mention preaching.

And yet, a busking advocate in Limerick told me that lawmakers admitted to them in a private conversation that the reason why they’re passing anti-amplification laws is because they can’t be seen to pass anti-religious ones. I heard basically the same thing from a campaigner discussing why Birmingham passed its 2025 ban on busking and street preaching.

This is collective punishment, and it’s amoral.

The other reason might be that lawmakers are forced to treat busking and preaching in the same way, because targeting preaching would be unlawful. Laws must be content neutral, but can be behaviour based. In other words, you can’t pass a law banning amplification for some, and not for others, depending on the content of their expression.

A good example of this is Belfast, another city that is currently considering passing public noise laws. As this article states:

It wasn’t the noise the preachers were making that prompted these bye-laws, but their homophobic content.

In fact, the council even rejected the new bye laws in December on the basis that, “the draft did not contain measures to counteract disturbing images…hate speech and threatening behaviour by preachers.” A politician is quoted as saying, “From the outset, these bye-laws were driven by a desire to target…street preachers and the pro-life witnesses.”

Lawmakers are still thinking of “fast tracking” a bill through parliament to deal with preachers before the Fleadh Ceoil, an annual arts festival taking place in Belfast this summer. The debate they're having is all about the content of what preachers say and display. And yet, the fact that the law must be content neutral has led to ridiculous headlines such as this one:

Nothing in that title makes sense.

Belfast’s council is obviously trying to prevent preachers from making life miserable for visitors, but using the word “busker” to excuse their actions.

A journalist for The Irish News asked people in Belfast how they felt about the legislation. The last lady they interviewed said it’s only fair to treat busking and preaching in the same way, saying: “If there is a rule for one there has to be a rule for everyone.”

Thankfully, this is not a popular opinion. Everyone can spot the difference between busking and preaching. Everyone can distinguish the pleasure of one from the offence of the other. So, the vast majority of the vox pops interviews, posts on social media and comments beneath online news articles about anti-busking laws all over the world demonstrate that preachers are generally hated by the public and buskers are generally loved.

🇬🇧 Another example comes from Reading, where most of the responses to the council’s public consultation were in support of buskers and against street preaching. 🇦🇺 Or, just look at all these comments made on Instagram after Sydney Council banned busking on George Street (which I also talked about here):

In October last year, street performer Jan Fidrmuc sent me this:

He meant “political protest”, but his typo, “political priest”, reminded me of a campaign that took place over a decade ago, just when I was starting to get into busking activism.

🇬🇧 In 2013, Camden passed the most restrictive busking law in the UK. From then on, if you wanted to busk anywhere in the borough, you’d have to pay money for a licence and wait up to a month. If you didn’t, the council could seize your instruments, fine you £1,000 and sell your instruments to pay for the fine, effectively ripping away your livelihood.

However, the law explicitly stated that religious activities were exempt.

So, the legendary busking activist, Johnny Walker, launched the Church of the Holy Kazoo and began giving ‘sermons’ in Camden Town Centre. “Cultural freedoms are just as important as religious freedoms”, he said at its founding service, which you can watch here. Ben van Der Velde, the church’s co-founder, also gave a great interview for Metro:

🇺🇸 In the United States of America, The Satanic Temple (TST) has done some pretty funny things.

In Pennsylvania, they set up After School Satan Clubs. In Alaska, they commenced a local council meeting with their invocation, including the words, “Hail Satan”. And in Oklahoma, they got the State Supreme Court to order the removal of a Ten Commandments statue outside their State Capitol building, after the government refused to allow TST to erect its Statue of Baphomet (a goat-headed, angel-winged humanoid symbol of the occult).

All of these actions were taken by members of TST who believe one religion shouldn’t be given preferential treatment over another — a fight they’ve expanded to Germany, Canada, Australia, Finland and the UK.

I’m not sure who the head of the church is now (Johnny sadly died in 2018), but maybe you could own chapter of CHK, wherever you are in the world.

Good luck out there!

If you’d like to send us your photo, hold a sign saying #buskingisnotacrime, and tag us on Instagram (@buskingproject), or just email it to me here.

Vote to see results!

News, stories and gig opportunities from around the world that I’m not writing about elsewhere. This week: Auckland’s onerous performance requirements, Hongdae’s busking ecosystem is at risk, a man called the cops when he decided he wanted to take back his tip to a busker, and pigeons busking.

🇦🇺 Auckland’s list of “dangerous” acts for street performers includes anything involving children, heights, animals and “Anything that would normally be identified as a weapon”. So, basically every single circle show act you’ve ever seen. To get a permit to perform a dangerous act you have to complete an 8-page document detailing your experience and the safety measures you take. 8 pages. To busk.

🇰🇷 The Korea Times just published a story titled, “Will Hongdae’s busking zone survive Seoul’s new rail plan?” It includes this fascinating look at a community coming together to oppose planned building works:

One local business owner is quoted as saying, “If this construction goes ahead here, the street where young people dream and play music will disappear, and Hongdae will lose the culture that brought foreigners here in the first place.”

More below the paywall!