As a charitable trust, we work to advance education by fostering the growth of street performance in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Out & About Arts Trust creates and amplifies opportunities for audiences, artists, and communities to participate, learn, and develop in performing arts experiences by:
Promoting activities and events,
Fostering education and development pathways, and
Securing the funding, partnerships, and resources required to enable this.
We make performing arts visible, accessible, and alive in public spaces.
What We Do
Support public arts performances
Enable the delivery of the flagship annual World Buskers Festival in Ōtautahi Christchurch that brings street theatre, outdoor performance, music, circus, comedy, and cabaret into public life.
Grow arts education and participation
Enable the creation and delivery of workshops, public classes, community programmes and accessible experiences that deepen appreciation, understanding, and participation.
Strengthen artists and artforms
Grow Aotearoa’s street arts ecosystem by enabling buskers, artists, and community groups to develop, earn, connect, and be recognised.
Amplify cultural leadership and representation
Partner with Māori, Pasifika and other ethnic communities to grow visible leadership in curation, creation, presentation, and performance.
Build a strong national and international profile
Champion and promote New Zealand street theatre and outdoor performance to grow their visibility and reputation at home and abroad.
Sustain the purpose
Build the funding, partnership, donations and evidence base needed to protect access, grow impact, and sustain the Trust’s charitable purpose.
World Buskers Festival
We support the Festival by securing the funding and partnerships that enable the Festival to be the flagship platform for public performance, cultural education, and community access in Ōtautahi Christchurch.
The Festival
A much-loved Ōtautahi Christchurch event, the World Buskers Festival draws residents and visitors into a spectacular 10-day programme, filling the city with free street performances alongside an exceptional selection of ticketed shows.Now in its 34th year, the festival combines international street talent, local artists, and the energy of the wider community. Together, these elements express Ōtautahi’s creative character: playful, confident, and continually developing.
January 2027
Thursday 21st - Sunday 31st
2027 is set to be an epic festival, featuring fresh new artists alongside fan favourites from three decades of busker history!
Find out more
Our people
Board of Trustees
The Out & About Arts Trust was established in 2026 with the purpose to advance public appreciation and understanding of street theatre as a performing art in Aotearoa.Its role is to enable the delivery of strong community outcomes, such as low-barrier access, public arts education, Māori and Pasifika cultural leadership, artist pathways, rangatahi participation and community connection.The Trust has a small but skilled board, with trustees bringing experience across law, finance, destination marketing, major events, governance and systems. This gives the Trust practical oversight across charitable purpose, funding, risk, accountability and long-term sustainability.
Chloë Dear
Chloë brings over 30 years of experience in developing and managing small not-for-profit organisations, mainly across circus, street theatre and festival production. From 1996 to 2012, she worked as an independent producer in Europe, specialising in outdoor and multicultural arts. She is currently Centre Director of MOVE Ōtautahi, Christchurch’s new community circus and dance hub, which aims to make artistic movement accessible to all.
Steven Moe
Steven is a Partner at Parry Field Lawyers and supports purpose driven organisations. He facilitates courses on governance for the Institute of Directors and is the host of Seeds Podcast which has 500+ conversations with inspiring people.
Anna Fawcett
Anna is a tourism and destination marketing leader with international experience across major UK events, VisitBritain, ChristchurchNZ and leading New Zealand festivals. She is General Manager APAC for Global Touring, overseeing Topdeck Travel, Back-Roads Touring and Grasshopper Adventures, and holds an MSc in International Marketing and a Diploma of Sustainable Destination Management.
Steven Perich
Steven is the founder director of Perich & Co Limited, a boutique accounting firm based near Piha Auckland. The firm has a broad range of New Zealand clients, and specialises in Not-For-Profit accounting and business management.
David Inns
David is an arts and events leader with senior management, technical and executive experience across major festivals in Aotearoa and internationally. He has led organisations including Taranaki Arts Festival, New Zealand International Festival of the Arts and Auckland Arts Festival, and now consults independently across the sector.
We're creating the environment for the performing arts to thrive
Have something in mind?
Have an idea, a question, or an opportunity to collaborate? We'd love to hear from you.
Out & About Arts Trust is a registered charity in New Zealand (CC64176)