Buskerfest (St. Lawrence Market)

In many other parts of the world, busking is an art form that garners respect and demands top skill. In that tradition, the eighth annual Buskerfest showcases more than 40 acts, few of which will remind you of those dudes who strum a guitar on Queen West. Canadians to watch will be Toronto’s Allstar Skateboard Circus, who will certainly charm young boys with its pyrotechnics and boarding stunts, and Montreal les Walkyries, a trio of fire-throwing women. I think some of the other highlights will be San Francisco’s Pete Sweet, who will be dancing and juggling on a slackrope strung high above the street; India’s Andrew Elliot, a snake charmer and magician; and definitely the Yo-Yo People, who not only do fun stuff with multiple yo-yos, but do it while they are hula-hooping and unicycling. No better outing for hard-to-entertain kids than this. Buskerfest is free with a voluntary donation to Epilepsy Toronto, and runs from August 23 to 26. Hours are: Thursday noon-10, Friday noon-11, Saturday 11-11 and Sunday 11-8. For information, go to www.torontobuskterfest.com.