Artists who show their work along the Halifax waterfront won’t be able to display their pieces during summer festivals, such as the Tall Ships Festival the Halifax International Busker Festival.

The contract the artists have with the city doesn’t include special events, even though those are the busiest times of the year. It also means visitors won’t find local products on the waterfront.

John King and his wife sell jewellery art that is made locally and they’re disappointed they won’t be able to cash in on the popular events.

“It's unfortunate because those are prime times for us to be out and be out in the public and have people see what we do,” says King.

King pays the city $250 to set up on the Halifax waterfront for the season, but that fee doesn’t include the Tall Ships, when only food vendors will be allowed on the waterfront. The Busker Festival will allow the artists, but only if they pay an additional fee of up to $3,000.

“We look at a lot of folks that make their whole living this way and there's no way in the world they could ever come up with that kind of money,” says King.

The contract the vendors have with the city clearly states the permit doesn't include special events. The artists know that and they're not disputing it. They're opposing the contract itself.

“We accept the contract because we need to come down here. We need to make our money and I guess we don't really have the power to change it,” says caricaturist Don Pinsent.

City officials say it happens this way for a number of reasons. Sometimes it is because the space is being used for the event itself; other times it is because the event has vending agreements that have merchandise related to their events.

“They have a business plan that's attached to that event and they have objectives they have to meet and part of that is their vending requirement,” says Shaune MacKinlay of the Halifax Regional Municipality. “So you know if we're going to have those special events then we have to respect that those special events are actually in a business as well.”

King says he worries about those who make their living vending.

“They might be street vendors, but we don't want to see them living on the street,” says King.

He hopes the city will reconsider the contract.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell