By Jessica Rowe
Thousands of people have gathered in Christchurch to see their favourite street acts at the 18th World Buskers Festival.
The 10-day festival has around 500 shows, and attracts performers from all over the world.
Flirty Lili La Scala and Senor Platos perform a teaser from Buskers Burlesque.
The show is one of the newest acts of the World Buskers Festival.
And it's held at the new dome in Cathedral Square, where the lead acts are going to be performed every night.
“I get to mix things that I love which are sparkly things and opera, and it is a great way for me to express what I love to do and hopefully make it a little bit more sexy and raunchy than opera normally is,” says Lili La Scala.
There are 500 shows in total this year; with 50 different performers from around the world.
Comedic acts like Christchurch busker Sam Wills have wowed critics in Britain.
He's looking forward to bringing it home to his friends and family.
“It's just like a normal stand up comedy show and you will laugh for an entire hour - it's a guarantee,” says Mr Wills.
Over the past few years there have been many different street performances ranging from jugglers, to unicyclists.
The festival is unique in that you only pay what you think the performances are worth.
But crowds are not afraid to reach deep into their pocket for a good laugh, not only providing a generous few dollars for the buskers, but also boosting the local economy by $3.5 million.
Jodi Wright, who started the festival 18 years ago, says after a tough couple of months, it's important for Cantabrians to have some fun.
“I just want to laugh and I just think there is a lot of people who just want to sit down and laugh and this is a great opportunity, so I don't care if things are moving around, just come on out and have a great time,” says Ms Wright.
A goal shared by all performers who want to bring some humour to the shaken city.
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