Top picks for this year's Perth Festival

Chelsea Hayes03 Feb '233 min read

Perth Festival

Want to experience world-class arts right here in the City of Perth? With Perth Festival kicking off soon, there’s an incredible line-up of events spanning dance, theatre, music, film and more to enjoy from Friday 10th February to Sunday 5th March 2023. If you’re not sure where to start, here are some top picks for Perth Festival events in the city this year…

International icons

In its 70-year history, the Festival has drawn renowned artists from around the world, and with Australia’s borders now open again this year is no different.

Icelandic pop megastar Björk is performing Cornucopia for four nights only in a purpose-built pavilion at Langley Park. The show promises to be a visual and aural feast blending wild images with wondrous music.

Over at The Rechabite, there’ll be an array of contemporary musicians from all corners of the globe. Tickets are still available for Nakhane (South Africa), Soccer Mommy (Nashville, USA) and Peaches (Canada), to name a few.

The Lotterywest Films bring award-winning international movies (often ones you won’t get to see anywhere else in Perth) to UWA. Coming up on the program are films from Spain, Iceland, Korea and more.

Bjork Cornucopia

Homegrown heroes

The Festival also shines a spotlight on Australian talent in all areas of the arts.

For example, The Rechabite’s live music program includes Perth five-piece Grievous Bodily Calm and Australia’s queen of soul Emma Donovan.

WA’s own Black Swan State Theatre Company presents Cyrano - Aussie actor Virginia Gay’s gender-flipped retelling of a classic French play.

And you can catch Fremantle-based artist Jacobus Capone’s new series of paintings in Falling from Earth at Moore Contemporary or see Jason Phu create a new multi-disciplinary work over the course of one week at the State Buildings.

Indigenous arts

First Nations cultures feature strongly in this year’s Perth Festival program through music, dance and theatre.

Flewnt’s Boorloo Block Party at The Rechabite brings together a bunch of hip-hop talents from across Australia (including 10-year-old Noongar hip-hop sensation Inkabee) to celebrate First Nations music.

Nearby at PICA, artist Robert Andrew draws on his Yawuru family’s history and language in kinetic installations combining natural materials and programmable technologies.

Tracker weaves dance, music and song to share the story of Alec 'Tracker' Riley, a Wiradjuri Elder who served the New South Wales Police Force for 40 years and forged a path between the enforced colonial system and Wiradjuri lore.

For family-friendly theatre, Hide the Dog is a tale of two besties who discover what can only be the world’s last Tasmanian tiger, and embark on a trans-Tasman journey to get it to safety.
And Seven Sisters is a new work by the WA Youth Theatre Company inspired by the well-known Noongar story.

With so many world-class events, it’s the perfect time to experience something like you’ve never seen before in the city.

One final tip: you can get a 10% discount when booking tickets to three or more Perth Festival events marked with “See 3 + Save”.

So start planning!