While we in Perth might consider summer the peak time for arts festivals, there are a host of events lined up for the second half of the year that prove Perth is a year-round arts hub with a bustling events calendar.
From theatre and film festivals to panel discussions and writer’s workshops, Perth’s arts scene is set to be revitalised over the next few weeks as we transition from winter to spring with these upcoming events.
10 Nights in Port
August 20 – 30
Closing out winter is one of Australia’s oldest recorded festivals.
What was previously known as the Fremantle Festival encourages festival-goers to gather for ten nights of art, stories and experiences across venues like the Fremantle Town Hall, Victoria Hall, Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre and the WA Shipwrecks Museum.
This year’s theme is ‘huddle,’ – inviting the Perth community to experience the warmth and connection of an immersive and distinctly Freo program.
Visual art, performance, storytelling and installations make up the full program, each brought to life by local artists. The full program is available online, showcasing a collection of both daily and one-off events.
The opening night festivities are set to transform Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre with two exhibitions, Nullians and In our hands we hold, where the closing event Feast & Fire sees the firing of Stewart Scrambler’s dragon kiln, a large-scale ceramic installation made just for the festival.
Perth Poetry Festival
August 27 – 30
With headline events running across the last weekend in August, Perth Poetry Festival brings poets and performers from across Australia into the heart of the city for the 22nd annual festival of verse.
This year’s program is made up of 30 events across the whole of August, including poetry slams, walking tours, book launches, and readings that both provide opportunities for new writers to show off their skills and for established names to share new work.
The Slam Poetry Showcase is a highlight, where twelve voices make the stage their own at Yagan Square’s The Baby Shoe – other headline events include The Gala hosted at Perth Town Hall on Thursday, August 27, featuring readings, keynote speakers, collaboration and more, and the Awards Night at the City of Perth Library on Friday, August 28, where the winner of the $1,000 Ros Spencer Poetry Prize will be announced.
Tilt: Festival of the New
September 2 – 12
Across two one-week programs, the Performance Making students from WAAPA’s graduating class showcase their creative talents at full tilt.
Each eclectic program takes over The Blue Room Theatre for six performances, promising powerful plays, inventive stagecraft and highly original works from WA’s brightest theatrical minds. The annual festival will provoke, entertain, and most importantly, explore the edge of what is possible for theatre – a must-see for all lovers of boundary-pushing art.
Make/shift
September 4 – 18
This unique festival takes place across Fremantle for two weeks of celebrating ‘future-making.’
With sustainability at its core, the minds behind Make/shift believe that the future is something we make, the events focusing on how we can do that for ourselves – headlining events include a conversation series on modern conundrums like AI and climate change and the Make/shift Summit, a one-day assembly on future-making.
On the arts front, the festival has a lot to offer; buy a pass for the whole festival or simply head to what sparks your interest. Think documentary screenings, a hands-on collage workshop, a pub quiz, and a talk on What’s Art For? fuelled by a viewing of Khaled Sabsabi’s exhibition Between Suns.
Make/shift combines Perth’s bright minds with a future-focused artistic and intellectual program, meaning festival-goers don’t just enjoy themselves but leave with a new perspective.
Melville Storylines Festival
September 11 – 20
Over 10 days and 20+ events, the City of Melville is inspired by the theme ‘What is a Map? for the fourth year of celebrating all things story.
This arts and culture event encourages exploration throughout the city, where visitors can escape their comfort zones and discover new interests and local talents. The concept of a map is at the centre of each event; Places Unsaid is an interactive map-turned-documentary, charting intergenerational memories of Melville through interviews, while Echo-location brings a diverse lineup of artists to Goolugatup Heathcote to explore mapping through sound. There’s workshops to get involved with, too – try embroidering a map or explore the body as a map with poetry at AH Bracks Library, amongst other events that push visitors to get involved and try out their hands at creativity.
The program takes place across pubs, museums, and more, wrapping up with the closing celebration Picnic at the Border, a fun, family-friendly day of activities at Douglas Freeman Park.
Totally Lit
October 2 – 16
The arts celebrations continue in Fremantle with the second year of Totally Lit – Adventures in the Port City.
Nearly 60 events make up this program, forging a new path from a traditional writer’s festival with events not driven by new releases but by live literature and storytelling’s connection to place, culture, history and community.
Events are grouped by theme so festival-goers can plan their itineraries to their interests – there are workshops for the creatively inclined, Tale Trails that turn a stroll around Victoria Quay into a masterclass on the inner workings of the port, poetry and spoken word events, and book talks where authors take centre stage.
Not only will visitors be able to celebrate the arts through Freo’s streets, bars, wine cellars and more unique locations like the Fremantle Wheel and Fremantle Prison, but they’ll learn a good slice of history, too.
SWAN Perth International Women in Film Festival
October 14 – 18
Perth’s only locally-run women’s film festival is celebrating five years with a week-long program that puts female filmmaking front and centre.
Seven sessions will be held across the week at The Backlot, SAE University College and Luna Palace Cinemas, each with a different focus. Beetroot Shorts promise off-beat showings, while Dahlia Night showcases the darker side of shorts. Champagne Night will be the one to watch, where the audience will enjoy champagne on arrival paired with the award-winning films from the program.
Indulge in a program that focuses on indie filmmaking, supporting local arts and the women involved.