Perfect date night shows at this years Perth Festival

Chelsea Hayes13 Feb '233 min read

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

As summer draws to a close each year, Perth Festival brings an array of world-class arts to the city. It’s the perfect opportunity to experience something new with your other half. Here are five ideas for a memorable date night during the 2023 Perth Festival…

Dinner and a movie

You can’t go wrong with the classic combo of dinner and a movie. Head to Somerville Auditorium at UWA for the Lotterywest Films: each week there’s a different international film showing (often something you won’t find in mainstream cinemas). Bring along cushions and blankets to get cosy, kick back on deck chairs under the pine trees and enjoy the movie as a canopy of stars comes out overhead. There are few better ways to spend a balmy summer evening in Perth.

Make it a great date night with… a picnic to enjoy on the grass. (No time to prepare? Don’t worry, they have woodfired pizza and a bar on site.)

Lotterywest Films

A night at the theatre

Dress up for an evening at one of the city’s stunning theatres. Highlights of the Festival program include Sydney Theatre Company’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde at His Majesty’s Theatre and our very own Black Swan State Theatre Company’s Cyrano at the State Theatre Centre.

Make it a great date night with… cocktails at one of the city’s best bars afterwards to discuss the show.

Immerse yourself in music

Perth Concert Hall is hosting some of WA’s - and the world’s - very best musicians as part of the Festival. For example, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and special guests present a ‘sumptuous feast of fine music’ including two new works celebrating the cosmos in Music of the Spheres. Perth-raised, New York City-based Linda May Han Oh returns with her new creation Ephemeral Echoes. And San Francisco’s boundary-breaking string ensemble Kronos Quartet appear in a world premiere collaboration with Noongar composer and language revivalist Maatakitj (Dr Clint Bracknell).

Make it a great date night with… a booking at a city restaurant for dinner beforehand.

Get your groove on

In the mood to get moving? Catch a gig at The Rechabite. From Perth five-piece Grievous Bodily Calm to South African singer-songwriter Nakhane and “Australia’s queen of soul”, Emma Donovan, their lineup of contemporary artists spanning a variety of genres is sure to get you onto the dance floor.

Make it a great date night with… dumplings at Double Rainbow Eating House downstairs to fuel you.

Messages in the sky

Michaela Gleave’s Between Us will close out the Festival by beaming messages in Morse code into the sky from the AGWA Rooftop. Head down to see this unique - and free - spectacle. You can even submit your own message about the intimacy and complexity of the space between ‘you and I’. Selected responses will be “woven into a poem and translated into morse code before being transmitted into the stars”. Sounds like a surefire way to impress your beloved!

Make it a great date night with… a delicious meal at the Twilight Hawkers Market for an affordable Friday night in the city.

P.S. Want to level up your date night to something truly unforgettable? Turn it into a staycation and check in at one of Perth’s best inner-city hotels.