While in the U.S. the word “busking” conjures up visions of a guitarist playing on a street corner, playing endless cover versions for spare change, in much of the rest of the world busking is considered a cherished art form in which street performers wow the imagination. Slowly, the perception of buskers is shifting, thanks in no small part to events like the Spring Busker Festival taking place at Seaport Village on April 10 and April 11 from noon to 5 p.m. Now in its fourth year, the reason for the festival’s success is obvious to Seaport Village general manager Terry Hall. “It’s a really fun weekend for both locals and tourists,” she said. With numerous cobblestone paths among the shops, there is free entertainment at just about every turn. “We get an amazing mix of people for what has become our signature event,” Hall said. “The combining of an outdoor art form with our location on the water is a perfect match. ” Although the most visible form of busking is still the omnipresent guy or gal with a guitar, the Spring Busker Festival avoids that sort of entertainment completely. “We’re looking for the extraordinary, the unusual, acts that are going to have jaws dropping at the end,” Hall said. This year, 10 performers from around the world will compete for $500 in airline travel. “We do require that there be no profanity and that the performance be very family-oriented, but we also want to go beyond the expected music-type acts,” she said. “This is more about stunts and magic, things with a ‘wow’ factor.” There are slight exceptions to that rule. “For music fans, we do have a unicyclist who plays the fiddle as part of his act,” Hall joked. Los Angeles duo Alex Clark and Dave Kaplan comprise Project Dynamite, a comedy stunt show featuring everything from acrobatics to fire juggling, which won the Spring Busker Festival competition two years ago. Touring the world on a year-round basis, Clark considers that his career choice is “not tough on me, but with all the travel and being away from home, it is on family and loved ones,” he said. However, Clark said, travel is one of the things that makes busking appealing. “It’s great moving from place to place and meeting new people, exposing your art to different audiences,” he said. “There’s no better feeling than building a crowd out of nothing and having what you do bring people together that otherwise might not even talk to each other, in a shared moment.” Minnesota-based Nick Sharpe, a sleight-of-hand magician, has included San Diego on his busking travels around the world since 1986. He notes the brisk pace of a busker’s life. “I’m on the road at least seven months a year, playing everything from corporate gigs to European festivals and in between. But even with three to five shows a day, it’s still a lot of fun,” he said. He concurs with Clark that travel is one of busking’s attractions. “It’s wonderful, but I have to say the number one reason for me is the freedom to do things on my schedule and the ability to be creative in what I do,” Sharpe said. Both Clark and Sharpe are effusive in their praise for the Spring Busker Festival, whether they win or not. “It’s really the biggest deal out of any of the events we play in the United States and definitely the only one as organized as this,” Sharpe said. While Seaport Village has no immediate plans to expand the festival, Hall notes that with the increasing popularity of the event, a second weekend might make sense in the future. “We’re getting so many requests to perform here each year and it seems to keep building, each festival gets a little bigger as the word spreads on what a fun event it is,” she said. “I can see it growing for years.” In addition to the regular Spring Busker Festival, for the second year in a row, there will be a separate component to the event, with Buskers after Dark, taking place on April 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. While the daytime events are family-friendly, the night time performances are recommended for those 18 and up, due to edgier humor and language. “It’s a chance for the performers to let their hair down a little,” Hall said. The Spring Busker Festival takes place on April 10 to 11 at Seaport Village, 849 W. Harbor Drive. The event is free and runs from noon to 5 p.m. both days. For more information, visit www.seaportvillagebuskerfestival.com