A love letter to Takapuna Sunday Market
Zoe Burnett grew her busking career alongside Takapuna Market. Now, as it faces impending closure, she reflects on the market’s colourful characters, unique challenges, and the joys of performing.
Not many people can say they’ve been doing the job they love since they were ten. Even fewer can say they regularly perform music in front of others at age 17.
I can say both.
I’ve been busking around Auckland since I could hold a Ukulele. I’ve played at an endless number of markets, but Takapuna Sunday Market stands out for its interesting and kind patrons. It has its own ecosystem, with the customers and stallholders living harmoniously amongst the crowded alleyways. I’ve grown my busking career alongside it, with my first performance in 2019 with just a Ukulele and a tiny amplifier. Now I play guitar, use my loop pedal, sing and entertain mini crowds.
The main reason I love Takapuna Market is the atmosphere. You see, I’m like a gumball machine. The more people appreciate the performance, the better performance they get. This ‘appreciation’ can come in money or kind words, but either way, my performance depends on the crowd. My favourite interactions are with kids, as they do the most adorable things. They get enraptured by my music and plonk themselves down to listen, ignoring everything around them. Some are little monkeys, though; they play with my equipment and try to steal my money!
Something to understand about Takapuna is that sometimes busking there is harder than getting to a park in the city during rush hour. There can be up to seven buskers at once, which creates a clashing cacophony--every turn you make, you hear someone new.
Every busker I’ve seen fits into a category my dad and I created; we have the Screechers (the kids who know one song on the violin but still get money because they are cute and small), Karaoke Ladies (self-explanatory), and Old Men With Guitars who sing exclusively country music.
We call it the “Busking Games”, as I must outperform other buskers for my spot.
Even though I get there super early to secure my favourite spot, there is never a guarantee; often, I’m forced to relocate. Sometimes, other buskers get really close to me when I have the best location and try to drown me out! To fight back, I constantly upgrade my equipment and improve my performance.
The reason I keep coming back to Takapuna is the stall holders. No matter where I am in the market, they are supportive and keep me going when there's no one around. It's really nice to have people on your side from the get-go, and if anything goes wrong, you know they have your back. They also give me food, which is a bonus as I never have to pay for lunch.
My two favourite stalls are Siri’s Taste of Sri Lanka and the iconic Vietnamese Food Truck. The Vietnamese truck and I have a symbiotic relationship; I entertain their customers and keep them staying longer (and buying more food), and I have a consistent audience and a free lunch.
Everyone at Takapuna is kind and supportive, and some are just pure entertainment. A regular is Mister Sunshine, a millionaire-turned-shoe-shiner who shines shoes singing the ‘Easy like Sunday Morning’ song every Sunday morning (except when the sun’s not shining). He’s flamboyantly dressed and loves to shout “Ho Ho Ho Merry Beeswax” no matter the time of year. A favourite one-off encounter of mine is when this man dressed in crazy sunglasses with a banjo asked me if he could perform a song. We (and by that, I mean I) performed American Pie as he plucked random notes sporadically. He was as happy as could be, and I got a laugh out of it.
I’ve had a few bad days at Takapuna, of course. I’ve been rained out, ignored and drowned out by stallholders’ music or other buskers. I’ve even had a rude stallholder grab my expensive equipment and move it away so he couldn’t hear me anymore. Please be kind to buskers. I’m not asking you to donate money, but maybe spare a smile once in a while? Buskers respond to the mood around them, so just a quick grin or nod of acknowledgement boosts confidence.
I’ve recently found out that the market will be shutting down. This will be a devastating loss to the local community, the stallholders, the other buskers, and me. It's been my favourite market to perform at, and I’ll miss my stallholder friends and the encounters. I’ve never had a boring busk at Takapuna as something out of the ordinary always happens, which is something I can’t count on anywhere else. I'm sad to see it close, but it makes my memories there even more special.
Goodbye, Takapuna Sunday Market.