Wellington waterfront will provide the backdrop for this year's The Performance Arcade, showcasing free live art, music and performance in a unique village made up of stacked together shipping containers.

Both New Zealand and international artists are featured at the event, with Sam Trubridge taking charge as artistic director and supported by associate producer Isobel Mebus and production manager Simon Manns.

The schedule is split into five main parts, the Container Series, Live Music Series, Waterfront Series, The Pink Line and Queens Wharf. Musical artists include Alana Janssen, Arjuna Oakes, Bad Hagrid, Ben Woods and Brazza, while some artists and creators featured are Anna Berndtson, Doug Beube, Kate Walker, and Sam and William Trubridge.

Trubridge says the program looks at the island space of New Zealand, focusing on themes of inclusion and exclusion, estrangement and belonging. He says, "These 25+ performance projects play with these concepts and perceptions, inviting you to look further within and to come closer – searching beyond face value to find hidden depths inside the image, the body, the experience, and our shipping container spaces."

The festival, which is free to enter, runs from February 27  to March 1, with opening night kicking off at 7pm on February 26. The event website has the entire program available.