For thousands of people leaving Bluesfest over the past decade and a half, the last performance of the night wasn’t on the mainstage.
It echoed outside the gates.
As Hardy fans streamed out of LeBreton Flats on Saturday night, many slowed along Booth Street when they heard the unmistakable sound of bagpipes ringing through the crowd. Some danced a jig. Others tossed a few dollars into a case. Many simply stopped to pat Nico Gravel on the back and thank him for years of music.
For 15 years, Gravel has been a familiar sight outside Bluesfest, playing bagpipes for the thousands of people pouring out of the festival each night. He waits until the concerts inside are over before striking up the pipes, greeting fans as they make their way home.
After this year’s event, though, he’s calling it quits.
Gravel said he plans to spend future Julys busking at festivals across Europe while continuing to live and work in Ottawa as an osteopath the rest of the year.
He said tourists overseas are more likely to carry cash and the festival season better aligns with his vacation from work. His decision also reflects a challenge facing street performers across Ottawa as fewer people carry cash in their wallets.
“It’s really hard for buskers to pick up cash when there’s no cash,” Gravel said. “People aren’t as ready to throw down a card or something like that, which I understand because of the amount of scams and everything else.”
He recently installed a tap machine to accept electronic payments, but says many people remain reluctant to use it. As a result, the amount he earns during Bluesfest has steadily declined over the years.
“So at this point, I’m kind of aiming a little more for tourism festivals,” he said. “Tourists tend to still carry around cash.”
Saturday night also offered a glimpse of how much the busking scene around Bluesfest has changed. Near Pimisi Station, only Gravel and two other bands were performing after Hardy’s concert. Gravel remembers years when far more musicians lined the route entertaining the thousands leaving the festival.
“It’s really quiet this year,” he said. “Even last year we had five buskers on the street. Now we have two.”
Gravel said he believes the shift toward cashless payments is one reason fewer musicians are lining Booth Street each summer.
Gabriel Glendon, whose band has busked at Bluesfest for the past two years just up Booth Street from Gravel’s regular spot, said the veteran piper has become someone newer performers look up to.
“You don’t really see bagpipers as buskers, but when you see it, it’s wonderful,” Glendon said. “To hear he’s been doing it for 15 years, he’s the veteran. If we ever came across issues as new buskers, he could easily answer a question.”
Gravel’s own journey with the instrument began long before Bluesfest.
He picked up the bagpipes at 13 after his parents banned drums from the house.
“They said no drums in the house,” he said with a laugh. “So I wanted to pick the next most annoying instrument I could think of.”
Thirty years later, he still takes lessons and says there’s always something new to learn.
“You can always learn more,” he said. “It’s always little nuances that make you a better player.”
The bagpipes have taken him across Canada and around the world. Today, he performs at weddings, funerals and ceremonies when he isn’t working as an osteopath in the city.
“Either you love it or you hate it,” he said of the instrument.
For many Bluesfest regulars, though, Gravel’s bagpipes have become as much a part of Bluesfest as the music inside the gates.
“I’ve gotten that a lot from younger people. They’ll say, ‘Ever since my first Bluesfest, you’ve been here every night,’” Gravel said.
One of those longtime supporters is Rob McIsaac, owner of Beyond the Pale Brewing Company, who stopped by Saturday night to congratulate his friend.
“He’s an institution,” McIsaac said. “He’s been doing this for a while. He’s holding it down for people, giving them what they want.”
Watching Gravel perform his final Bluesfest, McIsaac admitted it will feel different next summer.
“It’s a loss for us,” he said. “I’m happy for him, absolutely, but it’s a loss for us.”
For Gravel, busking at Bluesfest became much more than just something to do over the summer. Every July, he tucked away the money he earned outside the festival gates and used it to pay tuition while studying osteopathic medicine in Montreal. Over the years, Bluesfest helped finance 12 years of education.
“Because of this festival, I ended up paying for 12 years of education,” he said. “If it wasn’t for this festival, my financial situation would be way more different.”
The road for Gravel hasn’t always been the smoothest.
In 2022, he became the centre of a dispute with Ottawa bylaw after officers repeatedly ticketed him while he performed outside Bluesfest, issuing fines totalling more than $2,000 for obstructing a roadway, though one ticket was later dropped. City officials said busking was not allowed on city streets, even though Booth Street is closed to regular traffic during Bluesfest, citing concerns about emergency vehicle access.
Gravel said bylaw officers have continued checking in over the years, though interactions have become less contentious. He acknowledged the area around LeBreton Flats has changed over the years, with new residential buildings bringing more neighbours within earshot of his bagpipes.
“I understand where they’re coming from,” he said. “But there should be some leniency when it comes to festivals.”
Despite the challenges, Gravel says he’ll leave Bluesfest grateful for the memories.
He said he hopes to return to competing in competitions in Scotland and is writing a book about his decades of busking, one that will include many of the memories he’s made outside LeBreton Flats.
He’ll be performing for every remaining night of Bluesfest this summer, giving longtime fans one last chance to stop by and wish him well.
“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “I’m definitely going to miss it.”
Looking back on 15 summers outside Bluesfest, Gravel had one final message.
“You know what? Thanks, Ottawa,” he said. “It’s just been a wonderful career for 15 years.”
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