Outburst Arts
Outburst Arts is a non-profit charitable organization in Belfast that supports LGBTQI+ artists, writers, and performers through an annual queer arts festival, salons, touring productions, and the catflap writing publication. It serves the LGBTQI+ arts community and broader audiences across Belfast, Ireland, and internationally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersBelfast, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Outburst Arts does
Outburst Arts is a Belfast-based non-profit charitable organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ artists, writers, performers, and thinkers in creating and presenting cutting-edge queer art. Founded in 2006 with its first Outburst Queer Arts Festival held in November 2007, the organization has operated continuously for nearly two decades and is preparing for its 20th anniversary in 2026. The organization's core offerings include the flagship annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival, the ongoing Salon Series (10+ events to date), the annual catflap queer writing publication, the Tails of the City essay series, and theatrical productions such as Border Fairies. It operates under a 2023-27 strategic plan and is governed by a board chaired by David Codling, with Ruth McCarthy serving as Artistic Director/CEO and Caleb Roberts as Producer.
The organization's product portfolio is a unified arts and cultural programming platform rather than a technology product. The annual festival serves as the primary anchor event, supplemented by year-round salons, touring productions, and project-based commissions. Distribution channels include the Belfast festival, regional touring productions across Ireland, and international distribution of the catflap publication through Public Knowledge Books to stockists in the UK, Europe, and North America. The organization is supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund, and other institutional funders, alongside individual donations and ticket sales.
The business model is a hybrid charity model combining donations and fundraising, ticket sales for festival events and performances, shop sales (publications and merchandise through ticketsolve.com), and institutional charitable funding. The GTM motion is community-led and event-driven, leveraging word-of-mouth, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), and email newsletters to reach audiences. The organization employs 7 staff and operates from a managed workspace at 109-113 Royal Avenue in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, consistent with small-charity reporting norms.
Outburst Arts firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Outburst Arts
- Legal name
- Outburst Arts
- Website
- https://outburstarts.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Outburst Arts is a non-profit charitable organization in Belfast that supports LGBTQI+ artists, writers, and performers through an annual queer arts festival, salons, touring productions, and the catflap writing publication. It serves the LGBTQI+ arts community and broader audiences across Belfast, Ireland, and internationally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Outburst Arts industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts
- NAICS
- Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy Organizations (BPAGAFAE), Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts (MPAGABAI), Arts & Culture Service/Support Organizations (Networks, Advocacy, Capacity Building) (BPAGAHAL)
Keywords
Where Outburst Arts is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Belfast
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Outburst Arts business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Fundraising: As a charity, Outburst Arts relies on donations from supporters, both one-off gifts and regular contributions, to fund arts education programmes and queer artistic work.
- Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from ticket sales for festival events, performances, and shows at the annual festival and other events.
- Shop Sales: Sale of publications including catflap magazine and merchandise through their online ticket shop.
- Charitable Funding: Support from Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, and other institutional funders as part of their charitable mission.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
Outburst Arts product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Outburst Arts is a charitable arts organization that supports LGBTQI+ artists, writers, performers, and thinkers to create cutting-edge queer art and share bold ideas. Its portfolio includes the annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast (running since 2007), the catflap annual queer writing publication, ongoing Salon Series events, and touring theatrical productions such as Border Fairies. The organization operates as a non-profit relying on donations, grants, ticket sales, and merchandise.
Product overview
Outburst Arts is a charitable arts organization based in Belfast that supports LGBTQI+ artists, writers, performers, and thinkers to create cutting-edge art and share bold ideas. The organization's core offerings include the annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival (running since 2007), the annual queer writing publication 'catflap', ongoing Salon Series events, and theatrical productions like 'Border Fairies'. The portfolio operates as a unified arts and cultural programming platform rather than a technology product, with no software modules, APIs, or technical integrations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Outburst Queer Arts Festival: Annual festival showcasing queer arts and revolutionary imagination
- catflap
- Tails of the City
Products and services
- Outburst Queer Arts Festival The flagship annual queer arts festival held in Belfast since November 2007, showcasing LGBTQI+ artists, performers, writers, and thinkers through performances, installations, and cultural events for arts audiences in Belfast and beyond.
- catflap The annual publication of new queer writing from Outburst Arts, featuring open call submissions, curated interviews, and queer writing distributed internationally through bookshops and via Public Knowledge Books.
- Salon Series An ongoing series of salon events featuring discussions, performances, and community gatherings around queer arts and cultural topics for arts audiences and participants.
- Border Fairies A one-man stage show by Richard O'Leary produced by Outburst Arts exploring LGBTQ+ histories and the partition of Ireland, touring to Dublin, Derry, Cork, Bangor and other locations.
- Tails of the City A series of essays by queer writers and thinkers based in Belfast and beyond, exploring queer experiences of urban life and city experiences.
Companies that use Outburst Arts
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Outburst Arts technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Outburst Arts partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered major and supporting.
- KaboshmajorPartnership for Belfast 2024 Are You On The Bus? project - a Belfast 2024 commission in partnership with Kabosh and Paperxclips.
- PaperxclipsmajorPartnership for Belfast 2024 Are You On The Bus? project - a Belfast 2024 commission with Kabosh and Outburst.
- Liú Lúnasa (Irish language festival)supportingPartnership for Belfast 2024 event launching Tails of the City series with Faiteach - Aiteach booklet exploring connections between queer experience and Irish language.
- University of AtypicalsupportingVenue partner for Belfast 2024 launch events at Ledger Studio, 109-113 Royal Avenue.
- Public Knowledge BookssupportingInternational distribution partner for catflap publication - manages distribution to bookshops globally.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Outburst Arts competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- LGBT Foundation: Manchester-based national LGBTQ+ charity delivering arts, culture, advocacy, and community programming across the UK. Comparable as a larger LGBTQ+ nonprofit operating in the same arts-and-advocacy space, though with broader mission scope.
Direct peers
- Fierce Festival: Birmingham-based queer performance arts festival combining live performance, visual art, and club culture with year-round programming. Highly comparable as a queer-focused performing arts festival platform operating at a similar scale and community-led model to Outburst.
- Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest: London-based annual LGBTQIA+ film and arts festival combining screenings with performance and club events. Comparable as a queer arts festival with a community-led, multi-disciplinary program model similar to Outburst.
- Homotopia: Liverpool-based LGBTQ+ arts and culture festival producing annual programming and year-round events showcasing queer artists. Directly comparable as a UK regional queer arts festival with similar festival-plus-events structure.
- Queer Arts Festival (Iris Prize): Cardiff-based LGBTQ+ film and arts organization running an annual festival and year-round programs. Comparable as a UK regional LGBTQI+ arts organization with similar festival-plus-events structure.
- Paperxclips: Belfast-based independent bookshop and cultural hub partnering with Outburst on Belfast 2024 commissions and distributing queer literature. Comparable as a Belfast-rooted queer arts/culture organization with overlapping artist community.
- Kabosh: Belfast-based theatre company producing bold, socially engaged work and co-developing partners with Outburst Arts on Belfast 2024 commissions. Directly comparable as a small Belfast-based performing arts nonprofit with overlapping artist networks and venue relationships.
Regional players
- Tinderbox Theatre Company: Northern Ireland-based producing theatre company supporting emerging artists and new writing. Comparable as a small Belfast-rooted arts nonprofit operating in the same funding and venue ecosystem.
- Prime Cut Productions: Belfast-based producing theatre company commissioning and touring new work, sharing the same Northern Ireland performing arts ecosystem. Comparable as a fellow Belfast-based small arts nonprofit with overlapping funder base and artist pool.
- University of Atypical: Belfast-based arts organization supporting disabled and Deaf artists with year-round programming and venue access. Comparable as a small Northern Ireland arts nonprofit sharing funders, venues, and a community-led programming model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Outburst Arts social profiles
Digital presenceOutburst Arts financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Outburst Arts leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Outburst Arts funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Outburst Arts M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Outburst Arts
What does Outburst Arts do?
Outburst Arts is a charitable arts organization that supports LGBTQI+ artists, writers, performers, and thinkers to create cutting-edge queer art and share bold ideas. Its portfolio includes the annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast (running since 2007), the catflap annual queer writing publication, ongoing Salon Series events, and touring theatrical productions such as Border Fairies. The organization operates as a non-profit relying on donations, grants, ticket sales, and merchandise.
Is Outburst Arts a public or private company?
Outburst Arts is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Outburst Arts founded?
Outburst Arts was founded in 2007. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Outburst Arts based?
Outburst Arts is headquartered in Belfast, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Outburst Arts make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Donations and Fundraising is the primary driver. The others are ticket Sales, shop Sales and charitable Funding.
Who are Outburst Arts's main competitors?
LGBT Foundation is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Fierce Festival, Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest, Homotopia, Queer Arts Festival (Iris Prize), Paperxclips and Kabosh. Regional players are Tinderbox Theatre Company, Prime Cut Productions and University of Atypical.
Does Outburst Arts have an API?
No public API is recorded for Outburst Arts.
What industry is Outburst Arts in?
Outburst Arts's product category is Performing Arts. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAHAB, Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music), with a secondary code of BPAGAFAE, LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy Organizations. Its NAICS code is 7111 and its SIC code is 7990.