Nico Gravel received a $1,000 ticket during the shuttle bus outside of Bluesfest on Booth Street on Saturday night. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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Nico Gravel, 39, has played bagpipes around the world at top competitions and since 2013 has been traveling down Booth Street for Ottawa Bluesfest patrons on their way to and from famous shows.

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He became part of the Bluesfest audience not only for his tunes, but also for his unique way of financing his tuition and other student expenses in hopes of graduating from osteopathic medicine with minimal debt. But on Saturday night shortly after 10 p.m., his longtime passion and street concert was disrupted by Ottawa bylaw officers who said the piper needed a vendor’s permit to play songs. He said he wasn’t selling anything, just playing songs to pay for his education. Ottawa bylaw staff ended up giving him a $1,000 ticket for “charge, damage highway by (animals, vehicles or other means)” — or in Gravel’s case, playing the bagpipes. At 6-5, he might look loaded, but Booth Street is closed to vehicular traffic during Bluesfest shows and he plays for pedestrians, and no one ever complained about being blocked by Gravel.

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The piper said he will not only fight the hefty ticket but defy city bylaw staff and Sunday night at the same venue to play bagpipes as he has since 2013. It’s a big night for the student as the super star Alanis Morissette plays to a hometown crowd. “I’ll still do it. It’s ridiculous to be told to stop doing what I’ve been doing for years. The ticket was not guaranteed,” Gravel told this newspaper. The $1,000 ticket couldn’t have come at a worse time, he said. After two years of COVID, with little tourism and no Bluesfest, the student was hoping — like many — to make up for lost earnings. “It’s a way to pay my tuition and contribute to the cultural flora of the city of Ottawa,” said the flutist.

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“I’m not going to stop, obviously, I’ve got tuition. I just do the best I can with what I have,” he said. At 13, Gravel was told “there are no drums in the house” so he took up the pipes and while he was momentarily rebellious, his parents supported his piping career which led him to study under top East Coast instructors at the New Scotland and PEI, only to later compete on the world stage. “I like to play for people. I love the instrument. It’s always been a part of me since I was 13 years old.” The student busker is rented at www.nicogravel.com One of the most famous bylaw violations in Canadian busking history unfolded in July 2001, when an 11-year-old girl was told she was too young to kill in Old Montreal. Melissa-Jane Hollands stopped driving a bus on the road so her parents could avoid a fine.

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Days later, he was invited to play at the Theater St. Denis to open for cult-satire band Spinal Tap in front of 2,000 fans at a Just For Laughs gala. The 11-year-old busker received what the Montreal Gazette described at the time as a standing ovation. Many people in the theater came up on stage to throw coins and bills into a bag placed in front of her, the Gazette reported at the time. Nico Gravel has said he will defy personal rule and play again tonight (Sunday) at the same Booth Street venue for Bluesfest-goers. “I’m just trying to pay my tuition,” he said. [email protected] www.twitter.com/crimegarden

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