History of The Busk
In 2020, we set out to make a live concert film & documentary about homelessness in Dublin.
Through Glen Hansard, we soon became connected with the Simon Community and the incredible work they’re doing to aid homeless people across the country.
At a time when live music had moved online and crowds could not form on Grafton Street, we made The Busk documentary featuring interviews, live music performances and docu-style footage of the homelessness crisis in Dublin. This was aired on RTE 1 on Christmas Eve.
Fast forward to 2021, 12 days before Christmas, The Simon Community reached out to Collective asking for help, as the authorities had revoked their permit for the Busk to happen on Grafton Street due to the ongoing pandemic.
Together, we recorded and streamed a 90-minute live music film which raised €1.3 million for Dublin Simon Community.
Today, we professionally recorded the performances on the night and selected songs that represented the setting and energy of this place in time to produce a record for audiences to buy ahead of Christmas
Dublin Simon Community
Dublin Simon Community works to combat and prevent homelessness in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan.
The organisation was set up as a humble soup run by a group of Trinity and UCD students in 1969, who founded the organisation on the basis of community, respect, inclusion and non-judgement.
Over the past 50 years, these founding values have continued to drive Dublin Simon's work in providing low-threshold access to wraparound support services for people from all walks of life and all stages of homelessness to try to make home a reality and close the door on homelessness for good.
