Add To Cal: 8 Captivating Perth Festival Events To Hit Up In 2024

We sure are blessed in the west. Near-permanent blue skies, balmy nights, new restaurant openings and returning festivals. Each summer, Perth just seems to get bigger and better—and this one is no exception. Ending this summer with a bang is Perth Festival, a month-long showcase of exceptional global and homegrown talent. 

From February 9 to March 3 2024, a slew of local and international acts will be gracing our spotless shores, bringing with them hundreds of showstopping arts, music, theatre, dance and film events. With live performances by award-winning stars, visual arts to light up your world, and everything in between, no two days will look the same at next year’s Perth Festival. Here are our must-see events to bookmark for summer ‘24. 

Theatre And Dance

Jungle Book reimagined 

Without being dramatic, this one is a bare necessity. At once moving, entertaining and cautionary, globally celebrated choreographer Akram Khan has taken Rudyard Kipling’s much-loved classic The Jungle Book and transformed it into a powerful contemporary dance theatre piece complete with wondrous animations that will have you laughing, crying and learning. In Khan’s version, the story is told through the eyes of a refugee caught in a world devastated by the impact of climate change. After hitting the stage in Edinburgh, London and Toronto, it's now your chance to catch this awesome show for yourself from February 9-17.

Wayfinder 

Explosive dance, kilometres of coloured thread and music made especially for the show come together in Dancenorth’s Wayfinder. This jaw-dropping, kaleidoscopic production is an unmissable tonic for the times. Watch in awe as Australia’s top contemporary dancers defy gravity to a soundtrack by three-time Grammy-nominated Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote and sound artist Byron J. Scullin, as ever-moving artwork by Japanese-Australian visual artist Hiromi Tango casts a medley of colour on the custom-made inflatable stage. See it for yourself at Heath Ledger Theatre from February 29–March 3.

FOOD

This isn't your standard dinner and a show. For a beautifully absurd night to remember, secure your seat at the table of Geoff Sobelle’s FOOD, an intimate and immersive dinner party performance that asks the question: why do we eat what we eat? Ridiculous, crude and exceptionally funny, FOOD will be performed around a colossal dining table on the stage of His Majesty’s Theatre with the audience sitting on all sides. Rousing and multisensorial, the event will use smell, taste and touch to feed a meditation about the ways and whys of eating. It had the hardest tickets to get a hold of at the 2023 Edinburgh International Festival and we predict a similar situation in Perth this summer. Get in quick to experience this theatrical spectacle before the reservations are closed.

Film

Lotterywest Films

Perth’s balmy nights were made for outdoor cinema sessions. Running prior to the official Festival with an early start date of November 20, Lotterywest Films will bring new and award-winning cinema from Cannes and Venice to one of the world’s best outdoor cinemas at UWA Somerville all summer long. BYO wine, pack a picnic and catch some of the familiar faces you love on screen—Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams and Mads Mikkelsen—under the stars, with a different film to see every week until March 31.

Music

Sampha

Mercury Prize-winning British singer-songwriter and producer Sampha will hit the stage on Perth Festival's closing weekend showcasing his intoxicating blend of pop, R&B, soul, jazz and west African music. Having collaborated with a bunch of our favourite artists—think Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Solange and Frank Ocean—and hot off the release of his second album LAHAI, Sampha will bring the festival to a close in epic fashion on Sunday 3 March.

Sampa the Great with Kaiit

Zambian-born, Melbourne-based artist Sampa the Great is rap royalty.  Having burst onto the Australian music scene with her debut single FEMALE in 2015, the MC-singer-songwriter has been making waves ever since thanks to her turbo-charged beats that blend music, art and poetry. She’s opened shows for some of the world’s biggest stars including Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat and Billie Eilish, and is now teaming up with Melbourne-via-Papua New Guinea talent Kaiit for Perth Festival's closing weekend. Be sure to pack your dancing shoes, these two are guaranteed to get you moving on Friday 1 March.

The Rechabite Takeover

Northbridge's epic entertainment venue will be transformed into a three-week-long music hub during Perth Festival, bringing an epic lineup of gigs from household names to your future faves. Among the swathe of musicians from Australia and abroad are indie-rock artist Courtney Barnett, Norwegian indie-pop band Kings of Convenience, psychedelic RnB singer Greentea Peng and Zambia's biggest rock band WITCH. Keep your eyes peeled for more on Flewnt's Boorloo Block Party too, a popular celebration of First Nations hip hop music and culture. 

Under The Same Sun 

Closing Perth Festival on March 2 is Under the Same Sun, a free concert which promises to be a joyous celebration to share with the people you love. Some of Australia’s top Aboriginal musicians will share the stage with local and international artists, singing songs of nature and nurture, mothers and the sun. There’ll be an appearance from African superstar Angélique Kidjo plus Australia’s very own Stephen Pigram, Emma Donovan, Paul Kelly, Flewnt and more. Backed by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Festival Artistic Director Iain Grandage, this is going to be an incredible way to end a mighty month in Perth.