> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Must the show go on?
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/must-the-show-go-on/
- Published: 2004-07-03T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:41:51.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Promenade, #archive-import

This past week, Q-line asked: Are the ordinances governing street performers on The Promenade sufficient?

Here are your responses: ✆ “What needs to be changed is to get the bum street performers out of the area altogether. Let peace and quiet reign once again after these horrible years of gross noise and grosser individuals. They are a public nuisance. Talk about noise pollution, it doesn’t get much worse than this.” ✆ “I think the rules governing the street performances on The Promenade are significant. I think, at this point, we might even have too many rules, as a person who works on The Promenade. I think that applying more rules is just going to be more restrictive and more confusing. I know things are not perfect, but they do work well here, at this point, and some of the ordinances are unconstitutional, so I think the city would put itself in a legal bind by applying more rules and risking lawsuits. I think it was a wonderful thing for them to keep things the way they are. Let’s keep things the way they are. We’re all compromising out here. No one is getting everything they’d like. The Promenade is a wonderful place — it’s reality and we have to make the best of it.” ✆ “The Promenade is a tragedy. Santa Monica Place doesn’t have this problem. The entertainers should be placed further apart and the decibel allowance lowered and enforced. Sitting in any of the outdoor places, you can’t even talk to whomever you’re with. It’s ridiculous — the noise level needs to be reduced drastically.” ✆ “The City of Santa Monica has taken the wrong approach in positioning the entertainers who perform on the Third Street Promenade. Each performer should be placed on each of the planets that are located in the earth galaxy. The young man who balances a broom on the end of his nose would be placed on Mars. The bongo playing musician would be placed on Venus. The psychic cat would be placed on the moon to tell the man in the moon’s fortune. The city would then install a large telescope at the entrance of The Promenade at Wilshire Boulevard and charge tourists $5 a minute to view the planets’ entertainers.” ✆ “I think it’s wonderful because a lot of people come and, no, I don’t think they need to increase the fine. This is fine city and I think the performers make people want to come shop and spend money in Santa Monica. I think it’s absolutely wonderful.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 3, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070304.pdf?ref=smdp.com)