What is
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The Street Music Week documentary, Sing for Their Supper, was produced in 2013.
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Street Music Week is an annual event with two purposes:
- Fill the event sites with a variety of music and performance art ever year during the noon hours of one business week.
- Raise money for 2nd Harvest Inland Northwest Food Bank.
OUR STORY
Since 2002, Street Music Week has been held during the second full week of June – raising over $240,000 so far. Food bank officials say they can purchase six pounds of food for every dollar donated. That means we’ve provided over 700 tons of food for the area's needy families.
Street Music Week began on the sidewalks of downtown Spokane as a solo act when Doug Clark, then columnist for the city’s daily paper, The Spokesman-Review, took his acoustic guitar to the downtown sidewalks and collected donations for a week.
Clark raised $503 that first year. He wrote about his experience as a busker and donated what he made to the food bank.
The next year he did it again, this time inviting others to join him. The event has taken off ever since. Some 300 performers now give their time and talents during Street Music Week, which has expanded to include Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as well as Spokane’s historic Garland District.
Street Music Week began on the sidewalks of downtown Spokane as a solo act when Doug Clark, then columnist for the city’s daily paper, The Spokesman-Review, took his acoustic guitar to the downtown sidewalks and collected donations for a week.
Clark raised $503 that first year. He wrote about his experience as a busker and donated what he made to the food bank.
The next year he did it again, this time inviting others to join him. The event has taken off ever since. Some 300 performers now give their time and talents during Street Music Week, which has expanded to include Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as well as Spokane’s historic Garland District.
A SIMPLE PROCESS*
Now retired, Clark continues to spearhead the event and believes that its steady growth and success is due to its simplicity.
Street Music Week takes place from noon to 1 p.m. during the second full business week in June, Monday through Friday.
Performers can take part one day or every day. It’s entirely up to them.
All they have to do is come to a central location in Spokane’s downtown business core prior to noon. They sign in and are given a red collection bucket and an event badge (which they can keep) that identifies them as a participant.
It’s then up to the artist to find a sidewalk spot and perform until 1 p.m. Then the artist brings the bucket back to the command center and turns in the donations.
“There are no stages. There are no electric outlets,” said Clark. “We want the artists to have a true street music experience. If a performer wants amplification, it must be battery-powered and portable and comply with the city’s noise ordinance.”
Street Music Week takes place from noon to 1 p.m. during the second full business week in June, Monday through Friday.
Performers can take part one day or every day. It’s entirely up to them.
All they have to do is come to a central location in Spokane’s downtown business core prior to noon. They sign in and are given a red collection bucket and an event badge (which they can keep) that identifies them as a participant.
It’s then up to the artist to find a sidewalk spot and perform until 1 p.m. Then the artist brings the bucket back to the command center and turns in the donations.
“There are no stages. There are no electric outlets,” said Clark. “We want the artists to have a true street music experience. If a performer wants amplification, it must be battery-powered and portable and comply with the city’s noise ordinance.”
IT'S FOR EVERYONE
Another key to the success is that Street Music Week is open to performers of ALL ages, ALL levels of ability and ALL artistic endeavors.
“It’s about generosity, not virtuosity,” has become the event’s unofficial slogan.
Street Music Week participants have ranged from symphony virtuosos to beginners.
We’ve had a world champion accordion player and an elementary school marimba band. We’ve had a group of high school Scottish Highland dancers with bagpipe band.
Our Spokane Police Chief joined us one year to play spoons with a bluegrass band. Mayors and city council members have pitched in to sing, tap tambourines or just show support. A video of a performance by Spokane native Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge and Slash's backup band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators collected over 500,000 internet views. Peter Rivera, the original lead singer of Rare Earth, has wowed listeners by singing his mega hits like “Get Ready” and “I Just Want to Celebrate.”
“It’s about generosity, not virtuosity,” has become the event’s unofficial slogan.
Street Music Week participants have ranged from symphony virtuosos to beginners.
We’ve had a world champion accordion player and an elementary school marimba band. We’ve had a group of high school Scottish Highland dancers with bagpipe band.
Our Spokane Police Chief joined us one year to play spoons with a bluegrass band. Mayors and city council members have pitched in to sing, tap tambourines or just show support. A video of a performance by Spokane native Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge and Slash's backup band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators collected over 500,000 internet views. Peter Rivera, the original lead singer of Rare Earth, has wowed listeners by singing his mega hits like “Get Ready” and “I Just Want to Celebrate.”
Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge (shown here with Jim Lyons) rocks Street Music Week 2016.
We’ve even hosted street magicians, 11-year-old jugglers and an artist who painted on butcher paper laid out on the sidewalk.
Street Music Week is proclaimed each year as a city-sanctioned event by the mayor of Spokane and the Coeur d’Alene City Council.
Because of the event’s simple nature, we believe that the Street Music Week concept can be duplicated in almost any community that has lunch-hour foot traffic and vibrant music and art scene. (An annual sister event, in fact, takes place in Appleton, Wis., with all proceeds going to the region’s Feeding America organization.)
“And we would be glad to help any other city that wants to get involved,” added Clark. “All it takes is a bit of organization and a dash of desire.”
Street Music Week is proclaimed each year as a city-sanctioned event by the mayor of Spokane and the Coeur d’Alene City Council.
Because of the event’s simple nature, we believe that the Street Music Week concept can be duplicated in almost any community that has lunch-hour foot traffic and vibrant music and art scene. (An annual sister event, in fact, takes place in Appleton, Wis., with all proceeds going to the region’s Feeding America organization.)
“And we would be glad to help any other city that wants to get involved,” added Clark. “All it takes is a bit of organization and a dash of desire.”
*SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR 2020
*For 2020, the actual street performances have been canceled due to COVID, but there is a virtual option. Click the Performers tab for more information about performing. And of course, donations are still encouraged through the Donations tab.
