Countdown To Largest Street Festival In Australasia
11th Annual New Zealand Community Trust World Busker’s Festival, Christchurch, New Zealand Thursday, 15 to Sunday 25
January, 2004
This summer the largest street festival in Australasia returns to Christchurch – the 11th Annual New Zealand Community
Trust World Busker’s Festival – from Thursday, 15 to Sunday 25 January, 2004.
“The middle of January is a great time for the Festival as 70 percent of our audience are local residents”, says
Festival Director, Jodi Wright. “The holidays are over and the Festival makes the first two weeks back much more
entertaining.”
Performers are sourced by special invitation and from over two hundred applications. This year’s acts will include
street performance, theatre and circus arts, and comedy and cover the spectrum from the absurd to the sublime.
“The Festival has enjoyed exceptional growth since its inception and continues to gather momentum. This year we’re
looking forward to another fantastic line up of talent”, says Wright.
The Festival’s programme will include daytime and nighttime performances. Individual shows will be scheduled throughout
the day at more than a dozen Christchurch locations, including Cathedral Square, the Arts Centre and City Mall. All
events will be free, relying on the tradition of voluntary donations, and no bookings are necessary.
The Festival was founded in 1994 by Festival Trust – a charitable trust established to foster the arts by producing high
profile and accessible arts-based events.
The World Buskers Festival is core funded by the Christchurch City Council and sponsored by the New Zealand Community
Trust, The CPIT, The Christchurch Press, Montana Wines Ltd., The Arts Centre of Christchurch, Radionetwork, the Loaded
Hog, Phantom, Mcrory Thomas Travel and KPMG. The festival is the recipient of grants and donations from the Lion
Foundation, The Community Trust, Bendigo Valley Trust, The Canterbury Foundation, Pub Charity, ASIA 2000, NZJEP,
Creative Communities and a variety of other supporters both in kind, contra and financial contributors.