Current UK street arts are a lively and direct expression of contemporary culture. This form of performance encompasses a whole range of art forms – theatre, puppetry, circus, music or visual or any cross art form combination and often with a twist and always with the intention of animating the streets and their users. Performances operate at any scale from an individual 'walkabout' act, to a community procession, or a large-scale pyrotechnic theatre event with an audience of many thousands.

Street arts events are nearly always free and this, alongside the potential for large-scale participation, makes them one of the most readily accessible and inclusive types of performance. Much street arts uses humour, celebration and spectacle to connect with audiences, while there is also a strong history of the use of the art form to voice protest or reaction to social context.

Bill Gee, Independent Street Arts Network