News - Local News

POSTED: Saturday, Jul. 04, 2009

Bellingham Farmers Market puts in rules for performers

BELLINGHAM - A rainbow-striped umbrella shades Kevin Pinnell's stubbly, laugh-lined face from the afternoon sun. The only things in the area brighter than the umbrella, and the balloons Pinnell twists into animals, are the smiles on the faces of the children receiving them.

Pinnell's tie-dyed T-shirt is a close second.

"Hello there, princess," he calls to a 6-year-old blond girl walking by with her parents. When she turns, he says, "I know, I know - 'How does he know my true identity?'" As he fashions a pink giraffe for the giggling girl, her parents ask Pinnell, whose nametag identifies him only as "The Balloon Guy," how much money he'd like.

"The suggested donation is $5,031.29," Pinnell says, pokerfaced but easily eliciting a chuckle from his audience. He then explains that his creations cost whatever their recipients can afford ("It's just tips - that way everybody gets a balloon"), and the girl's father slips him a $1 bill.

If this scenario plays out two more times today, Pinnell will have earned back the money performers like him spend for a daily permit at the Bellingham Farmers Market. The market, where Pinnell, 46, has been performing for two years, implemented a new policy this year regarding "busking," or street performing.

Buskers must sign a copy of the market's rules, sign up for designated time slots and locations and pay a fee of $3 per day or $15 for the entire season, which runs from April to December. Daily and seasonal buskers are then issued badges.

Cathy Fout, 38, who runs Fout Family Enterprises, a Blaine-based jerky business, has been vending at the market every Saturday since 2003. She appreciates most of the buskers but said if they want to be a part of the market, they "need to do the same as the others that are there," which means paying for the privilege.

Market Director Caprice Teske knows customers enjoy buskers like Pinnell. She said buskers generally benefit from being able to perform in the market as much as the market benefits from having them there.

"Some thought we were just trying to gouge money from people" when the market implemented the fee, Teske said, but it covers the cost of the badge and managing the busking program.

Teske said the rules are intended to prevent traffic flow problems that could affect vendors. They're also necessary to protect people's safety and reduce the market's liability for dangerous activities such as juggling knives or torches, which are prohibited.

Pinnell was surprised there was no policy before now.

"If the vendors have to follow rules, so should we," Pinnell said. "You can't go to the mall and put a hat out."

Richard Hartnell, 26, a Bellingham native who said he has busked all over the West Coast, sees the issue differently.

"To charge street performers is practically unprecedented," Hartnell said, "especially for a market of this size."

Seattle's Pike Place Market also charges buskers - $30 for an annual pass. But for that, buskers have a lot more opportunities to perform at the daily market.

Hartnell said even the $3 daily pass in Bellingham can be hard on some performers.

"Nobody's making a lot of money busking at the Farmers Market," he said. "Three dollars a day can mean the difference between a hostel and the street, or between eating and not eating."

Hartnell no longer performs at the market, in part, he said, because he doesn't want to dignify the policy.

Pinnell chose to stay.

"The Bellingham Farmers Market is a great thing," Pinnell said.

So on Saturdays the diesel mechanic for Birch Equipment can be found twisting balloons to charm the market shoppers.

"Everyone wants a balloon," Pinnell said. "They just don't know it until they talk to me."