Fire Destruction! Help The Dust Palace Rise from the Ashes

In the early hours of June 8th, a massive fire tore through a Penrose warehouse—completely destroying The Dust Palace’s entire collection of stored props, costumes, aerial equipment, and staging materials. Among the lost taonga were 15 years of handcrafted, donated, and hard-earned resources that brought magic to thousands of people through our shows, workshops, and community outreach.

We also lost newly donated theatre seats, which were just used in our debut season at Ellerslie Arts. These seats symbolised the generosity of our community and our dreams for inclusive, affordable performance spaces.

The Dust Palace is more than a company—it’s a whānau of artists, educators, and dreamers who bring circus arts to tamariki, schools, and festivals across Aotearoa. We’ve always found strength in resilience and creativity, but this loss is immense. With your help, we can begin to rebuild, restock our gear, and keep our work alive for the next generation of performers.

While we await our insurance claim we know that insurance will not cover all of the crucial assets we need to continue delivery. Especially, we need to keep our business afloat while we reinvest and rebuild the equipment we need for our next tour in August.

Every dollar you give helps us replace critical equipment, remake costumes, and ensure our kaupapa continues. Whether you can give $5 or $500, your support means the world to us.

Thank you for helping The Dust Palace rise again.

Ngā mihi nui,

The Dust Palace Trust