YouTuber hopes to confirm Brighton as UK's busking capital

Joao Pagano set up YouTube channel Brighton Beach Busking (BBB) in November 2021, gaining 1,300 followers and 260,000 video views since then.

BBB documents Brighton and Hove’s rich street music culture, with new content added daily.

Now, Joao is working to curate a festival of Brighton’s buskers and make the area as UK’s busking hub.

The Big Push - regularly seen busking in front of their mural in Brighton

"We started doing it for ourselves and I ended up getting to know some of the buskers quite well," said Joao.

"I realised that they have a tough life. Some of them are busking to have money to eat, pay bills, survive - I didn't like that. I saw some great buskers that due to a wrong turn in life, ended up being homeless. I felt like I wanted to help in some way."

Joao and his wife, Luiza Pagano, who run the YouTube channel with little financial support, hope to curate a festival with the help of Brighton and Hove City Council, and compile an annual album.

Joao and Luiza Pagano of Brighton Beach Busking

"We are doing all this work for free," said Joao.

"I'm short of money at the moment, like a lot of people. But one day, I found money on the street.

"I waited and waited, but I couldn’t find the person to give it back to. I decided not to keep it but give it all back in tips to the buskers. I started filming them every single day. After that, it got YouTube's attention and it just grew organically."

BBB features many huge Brighton names, including The Big Push, and Fukushima Dolphin.

Joao previously ran a successful Brighton guide, printing 60,000 copies per year, which ceased trading due to the Covid-19 pandemic.