Third Street Promenade's hidden etiquette

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Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica is famously known for its performers. Everyday performers of all skills line the streets entertaining visitors. Some performers are so talented they can make a living performing on the promenade.

But in the small community of musicians and clowns, there is etiquette unknown to passersby. Chelsea Williams sings and plays the guitar on the Third Street Promenade.

Williams has played on the promenade for almost 7 years and has sold thousands and thousands of records. Williams is considered a "veteran" of the promenade and is aware of the official and unofficial rules of the promenade.

According to Stephen Bradford there are certain rules of the promenade every performer must follow.

These official rules include: a performer must have a permit from the city, a performer must find a spot 40 ft. away from another performer, a performer can only be at that spot for a 2-hour period at the top of the hour, and the volume must be within certain decibels depending on the time and day of the week.

While every performer must follow these rules, Bradford says the rules within the community of performers is just as important for an artist's success on the promenade.

"People rely on the community rather than the strict rules and negotiate with each other to make sure everyone can have a fair shot," Bradford said.

Williams says the community is small and that's its very important to keep good relations with the other performers at her workplace.

"Today there was a guy that he came up and it looked like he wanted the same spot as me and I know him really well and he's a nice guy, so I decided to give it to him rather than fight for it," Williams said. Williams says that new performers aren't always aware of the "unofficial rules" known amongst the other performers.

"The rules state that it's forty feet, and forty feet away from somebody isn't enough space, so it's kind of an unspoken rule between all the artists out here that you don't set up more than 100 ft. away from another performer," Williams said.

According to Williams regular performers have certain spots at certain times and days of the week. Williams performs every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. in front of Sephora and the regulars of the promenade no not to take her spot.

"Every once in awhile somebody will come and take that spot and I can’t really tell them not to because I don’t have that authority and I wouldn’t want to tell them not to set up there but it gets a little awkward and I have to find another spot and I get asked about it," Williams said.

"The rule that most people violate is the volume level.That's probably the biggest challenge is to make sure people follow that rule," Bradford said.

However, Williams said the most frustrating rule of the promenade is the volume level because if she's too loud she gets a ticket. Two tickets means Williams can't play on the promenade anymore.

"I have been harassed from homeless people and drunkards and I’ve been fine I’m cool with that. But the problem is when somebody tries to take my livelihood away and that happens when they give us tickets for playing one decibel too loud," Williams said. Last year Williams signed with Interscope Records, but realized she didn't fit well with the label. Williams continues to sing and play guitar keeping in mind the official and "unofficial" rules of the promenade.