Buskers festival a bright spot for January

Don’t feel too grim about heading back to work – the 25th anniversary World Buskers Festival is just around the corner.

Promising laughs, thrills and all-round entertainment to kick the new year off on a high note, the festival opens on Thursday 18 January and closes on Sunday 28 January.

Tape Face is back to help the World Buskers' Festival celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Fifty-five performers from 14 countries will bring busking bedlam to the city for the annual festival. This 25th anniversary year sees the return of some old favourites and the debut of several new international acts.

Headliners include local hero Tape Face (Sam Wills) who made it through to the final of America’s Got Talent in 2016. He’ll be coming home with a new show Under Construction that will make its world premiere in Christchurch.

International cabaret star Ali McGregor will perform in two very different shows, Decadence for adults and Jazzamatazz for kids.

Urzila Carlson brings her new show Unacceptable and Kiwi icons The Topp Twins will take to the stage with their inimitable humour for four nights only.

A Night at the Musicals features Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo and musical comedy Crossdresser for Christ stars Ginger Minj from RuPaul’s Drag Race in her New Zealand debut.

Penny Ashton swaps Austen (her Promise and Promiscuity show sold out last year) for Dickens and brings orphaned hero Olive and a squalid gaggle of Victorians to life in Olive Copperbottom: A Dickensian tale of love, gin and the pox.

Private eye Butt Kapinski inhabits a seedy world of sin, shadows and subterfuge. The creation of United States-based performer Deanna Fleysher, this immersive comedy show invites the audience to be part of a film noir murder mystery.

There will be a Buskers Comedy Club in the North Quad of the Arts Centre with plenty of food options and an R16 rating. A Cabaret Club will be held at the Great Hall, and the Laugh Lounge at Sixty6 on Peterborough St will host two stand-up shows, one starring comedy  'Dudes', and one featuring comedy 'Divas'.

Make sure you catch high-kicking Olive.

Buskers will also perform at the Friday Night Food Market in Cathedral Square and in City Mall at lunchtimes outside The Crossing. There will be roadshow events, Buskers at Brighton and Buskers at Lyttelton over two days during the festival and more than 200 free day performances will take place around the city.

Festival Director Melissa Haberfield says the festival will turn Christchurch into a playground as street artists and night show performers entertain hundreds of thousands of locals and visitors. 

“We encourage everyone to make the most of the free street shows on every day and book early to the very popular world class indoor night shows. Twenty-five years of buskers is something we think is worth celebrating so we’ve put together one of our best line-ups ever. The artists and crew are all so excited, now all we need is our fantastic audiences to complete the picture.”

The festival finale is the Buskers Best Bits show at the Isaac Theatre Royal on January 28 which has already sold out. More than 250,000 people are expected to attend the 10-day festival.