Call Parks and Rec Department.  If that doesn't work send an email to your city councilor or the mayor.  

The auditions that I have attended have been somewhat pro forma and most of the judges weren't even musicians.  

One busking irony in Duluth is that most of the people who have permits don't busk and the people who do a lot of busking tend to be permitless.  When I was a street vendor I used to beg people to come out and busk and I even scheduled a weekly buskers jam session and an outdoor open stage.  But you didn't get many takers.  Maybe you should just register with the state as a business doing street performance and work out your city/state tax on what you get and just bypass the city.  But the state is closed and beside that I see now that I have also (again) said way too much. 

I should have just said.  "I love buskers.  We need more of them they add much to the flavor and delights of public spaces. Good luck to you."

It is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.

A little bird told me that if you ask nicely, the folks at Whole Foods on 4th St. may let you busk out front ;)

I believe there have been rules about busking for a very long time (I would guess probably since around the great depression, give or take). This is a pretty common rule in almost every big city (over 10,000 or 20,000).  I think the reason behind it is there is a fine line between street performance and panhandeling....too much of the second one leads to the opposite of a vibrant, memorable experience for visitors.  Not to be down on homeless or desperate people (some of have been in similar situations), but tourist don't like to go to places that have too many panhandlers.  Anyway, that is the thinking behind it and not simply rules for the sake of having rules.

having known more than a few street musicians in my time, i'll weigh with a little perspective:

unless things have changed much, the city of Seattle sells busking licenses in order to be able to play at designated spots inside and around the Pike Place Market and other places around town. Most other places don't seem to mind so much as a good street musician can actually bring in money for a sidewalk cafe (though while playing outside a coffee shop on Market St, my mentor Flagg was once offered $5 to *stop* playing. which he did, until the creep was out of sight)...This has been going on for decades, really, and is as much of a fixture of the whole "going to the market" experience as the little korean ladies who'll gladly take your money in exchange for some of the best tasting fruit you've ever had...

in Duluth's case, however, i think that the activity has been stymied for a lot longer, with the stigma that street musicians are somehow on the grift or vagrants or something unsavory. so, it seems that it's difficult to overcome that stereotype, so nobody really knows how to approach or handle the idea...naturally bureaucracy gets involved and mucks everything up.

i think i can see both sides of the fee issue though...ponying up the fee kind of ensures that your operation is on the up and up, though i think $25 bucks is a little steep. you *might* make your money back in the first week though if the foot traffic is brisk.

it's the stigma that has to be overcome. we see vibrant culture...others may see vagrancy. but you'll see the same thing happening in every other major city in the country.

vhttp://youtu.be/GaoLU6zKaws

Has anyone polled the buskers what their take is?  I don't think it's about making money as opposed to street art.  Or how about that guy who was charging $5 for all day parking in the ramp on Lake & First during Grandmas? Without a vest, or receipts or only there shortly.

Speaking of busking, I participated for the Gallery Hop this year and was not compensated by the Duluth Public Arts Commission to the tune of $25, I even had to audition last year (which I was compensated for). 

As far as I'm concerned, busking implies performance, pan-handling implies begging.

Like Nike says, Just Do It. And deal with the authorities if they hassle you.  And remember, there is always the Graffiti Graveyard, which has more traffic this year than I've ever seen.

You can do it at our place.

Just a note:  not being asked to stop does not make it okay.  My neighbors exceeding acceptable noise levels in their apartment do not always get asked to stop, but that doesn't make it okay.  If I ask them to stop, it means that it's totally super beyond not okay.

There is a reason to license buskers.  You want people who really want to be doing it for the right reasons, and maybe actually sound decent.  Not just some guy with a trumpet.  But, there is no reason, really, to restrict that greatly the number of people busking and the places they can busk.  The activity is self-regulating, to some extent, and by having a permit, it's easily policed.  Why make it harder for people who make such a huge contribution to the public life of the city?

Well, I went down to Sidewalk Days (Daze) today and spent about three hours playing. People were by and large happy. I only got nasty looks from a couple of senior citizens who obviously wanted me to be spending my time in a more beneficial way, like making gourd art or crafting pigs out of empty bleach bottles. I find that staring back is a great way to get them to move on.

My observations after three hours of busking in Duluth:

1. Teens were extremely appreciative, tipped well, and even chatted a little bit. Mothers with young children came a close second.

2. Nobody thought I was begging or panhandling, and most seemed to understand that I was working to provide a festive atmosphere.

3. Someone should set some busking rules for future events. There was one guy there taking up a whole block because he was playing through an amp and singing into a mic. That, to me, is a faux pas. Also, one of the larger stores was playing loud music through a fairly large speaker system, making it impossible to really use most of that block as well.

4. I'd like to have a small chair with me, because there aren't too many places to sit down there. Sure, I could stand, but I find that tips are better when you are stationed lower than the pedestrians.

5. Shop workers are very happy when you ask them if they would mind that you play nearby for a while.

6. Don't forget that regular sunscreen can sweat off.

I'll be down there most of the day tomorrow should anyone want to drop in and say hello. I'll be the guy with a goatee playing the fiddle or singing with a black ukulele. Codeword is SWORDFISH.

Oh, I just gotta get my 2 cents in here, of course. Back in my day  There were no more than one actively practicing busker in Duluth at a time, unless some enterprising kids from a more laid back place came to town on a lark. Busking kept me in grub and beer money on and off in the early 1990s. The only one I knew who had regularly busked Duluth was a fellow by the name of Paul Webster (of Webster house fame) who used to tin whistle on the corner by the Holiday Center in the late '80s. 

My favorite spot was the row of rocks were the ramp down from corner of the lake park crossed the scenic railroad tracks and met the Lakewalk. (The other being the T intersection in the Skywalk just before the passage to the DECC, or across from Kelly's Coffee in the Sup. St. Skywalk. 

The biggest day I ever had was maybe 50-60 bucks. I hit that maybe 4 times ever. The one time I was ever approached by Duluth Police, was merely to make sure I wasn't overtly begging. (Apparently, my open guitar case was fine.) When I asked the cop about a permit, he said no such thing existed. Mind you, this was about 1994. It seems once again the 1950s small-town fear-based mentality of authorities in Duluth toward anything remotely counterculture, wild, or creative has spawned an atmosphere where anything not mandatory is forbidden. Pity. 

I wasn't all that great, but I was pretty well received (especially by tourists, and yes, the tourist teenagers, especially thought it hip), and it got me guitar pointers from all the guys I'd see playing at Quinlan's later in the evening. 

It's really sad the city, or Canal Park business association or whatever, feels the need to institutionalize and control such a traditional and time-honored way for a musician to learn and ply his craft.