Wondering what events to lock into your calendar? We've done the hard yards and combed through everything happening in Perth to help you find the best.
There's plenty of good stuff to chuck in your calendar, including the return of winter faves like Long Chim's Hot Gin Terrace, Artisans Of The Republic and Cabin Fever. Plus, the hotly anticipated Perth showing of Moulin Rouge! The Musical that has just been announced.
Here’s what’s on in Perth this week, this month and beyond.
What's On This Week
Van Gogh Alive
Perth | All Month
We’re guessing you’ve seen snippets of Van Gogh Alive on your Insta feed. An immersive exhibition where Gogh’s seminal swirls, stars, sunflowers, snowflakes, and moonshine drift and dance across walls, just as you imagine the painter would have seen them in his own day. The super-hyped exhibition has been shown in 50 different cities around the world to some six million people (that’s a lot of Insta feeds). And now it's finally landed in Perth. Pick up tickets here.
Plating Up WA
Various Locations | All Month
Plating Up WA is a month-long celebration of the incredible West Australian produce we’re so spoiled with, and this year they’ve teamed up with over 40 restaurants to bring you a taste of all the best ingredients through WA-inspired dishes. With favourites like Will St, Bib & Tucker, Le Vietnam, Miss Chow's, Young George, The Shorehouse and many more jumping on board, we’re in for a very tasty month indeed.
Michael Angelo’s Sistine Chapel Exhibition
Fremantle | All Month
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition has finally landed at The Naval Store in Fremantle after touring the world over. This life-size re-creation of each of the 34 frescoes from the Sistine Chapel has been brought to life using highly detailed photos, meaning you can see every detail, brushstroke and colour as you wander through the exhibit. Head here for tickets.
Revealed Exhibition
Fremantle | All Month
Fremantle Arts Centre's annual Revealed Exhibition runs from now until the end of July and showcases over 250 exceptional new works from 100 of the best emerging WA Aboriginal artists from remote, regional and metro areas. With pieces exploring everything from traditional to the cutting edge across a huge range of mediums, it's a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the rich stories and culture of our first nations people. Don't forget to purchase a piece to take home!
All You Can Eat Tacos At Al Pastor
Fremantle | Wednesdays
It's cold out, so we'll take that as an excuse to go a little harder on all the carby tings than usual. Good thing Al Pastor at The Sunshine Harvestor Works in Freo is on the same page—they're slinging all-you-can-eat tacos every Wednesday with two margaritas (just enough to get you buzzed without ruining your Thursday morning) for $50. Not bad at all.
Bottomless Gnocchi Club
Perth | Wednesdays
Dig out your most elasticated pants because Market Grounds' famous Bottomless Gnocchi Club is here for one final week. It's gained quite the cult following for good reason—two hours of endless soft, potatoey pillows of joy wrapped up in three tantalising flavours for just $35 each. This year you can eat through classic gnocchi, lamb ragu, parmesan and pangrattato; fried gnocchi, pumpkin, burnt butter, sage and pecorino; and classic gnocchi, tomato sugo, ricotta and basil, Just add a glass of wine (or a bottle, no judgement here) if you want to make a night of it.
Scarborough Sunset Markets Winter Edition
Scarborough | Saturdays
Winter in Perth just got a whole lot better—with the Scarborough Sunset Markets coming in hot with their new winter market series. Every Saturday evening from 3pm until 8pm, up to 50 food trucks and market stalls will wrap around the Scarborough Clocktower and stretch up the promenade. To really amp those cosy vibes up, their custom-made fire pits will be blazing all afternoon and yes, there’ll even be marshmallows for roasting. Plus, local DJs will be providing the hottest soundtrack for your ultimate wintery Saturday session.
Bistro Guillaume Masterclass Wine Dinner Series
Burswood | 30 June and 28 July
If you’re a lover of all things food and wine, you need to get yourself to one of these masterclasses pronto. Sit back and indulge in a four course dinner menu at Bistro Guillaume while Crown’s Sommelier Michele takes you on a journey of wine with six wine tastings and as much knowledge as you could possibly absorb. The masterclasses cover five different areas of the oh-so loved beverage—the french classics, sparkling, European underdogs, the new wines of the world and those from our very own backyard. After a sell out series last year, this is one you won’t want to miss.
Coming Up
Tour De Freo
Fremantle | Saturdays in July
If you managed to get along to the iconic William Street Long Lunch, you'll have some idea of just how epic a progressive lunch through some of the city's best venues can be. Well, the brand new Tour De Freo is giving anyone South Of The River an excuse to hit the pavement this July.
This feast is by no means fancy, but it's bound to be downright tasty. You'll kickstart the day at the cool retro gaming bar, Palace Arcade, for a fat New York slice and your choice of either their Chi Chi Spritz, Apple Pie Sour or Cherry Ripe Espresso Martini. You'll then head on down to Pretzel for a little snack before making your way to Baller's sports bar for a cheeky cheeseburger or karaage chicken sandwich with fries and a tap beer. Once done, roll yourself to the final stop, San Churros, for classic, homemade churros with your choice of dipping sauce and a hot drink that will no doubt help you drift swiftly into a food coma forever more. It'll set you back $60 for the whole lot, with extra drinks available for purchase throughout. Tickets are available here.
Port To Port Footy
Perth | July 3
Kick off your Sunday with the ultimate combination of Aussie culture (beer and footy, duh). Pirate Life Perth is putting on an epic game day party on Sunday 3 July, with big screens, $5 frothies, steak sangas, entertainment, $10k worth of prizes and enough past players to send Dad into a “back in my day” tangent for at least a few hours. Plus free shuttle busses to Optus Stadium for the real fans.
Double Rainbow X Four Pillars Dinner
Perth | 3 July
Double Rainbow head chef Navarre Top is putting a special four-course dinner paired with exclusive Four Pillars cocktails for one night only. On the menu, you've got a bloody shiraz spritz paired with oysters and a whipped chicken parfait on milk bread, a yuzu, finger lime and Thai basil gin smash with chef's sunning kingfish yuzkosho dish and a spicy ginger and orange gin mule served alongside braised lamb, kimchi fried rice and wood roasted broccoli. Finish it all off with a banana cream pie and spiced dessert negroni. Tickets are available here, if we don’t buy them all first.
Artisans Of The Republic
Fremantle | July - October
After a sell-out series of delectable dinners paired with crushable and creative cocktails, Artisans Of The Republic is back for another run of indulgent produce-focussed evenings. Settle in at Freo's fave distillery for a celebration of unique WA flavours over four four-course dinners taking place from this July to October, each showcasing a different local artisan. This year's lineup includes Fins Seafood, Offshoot Coffee, The Mushroom Guys and Dirty Clean Food, who together with award-winning head Chef Emily Jones will serve up an unforgettable feast accompanied by paired drinks carefully crafted by Republic's rockstar bar team. We scored a seat to one of last year's dinners and it was hands down one of the food highlights of the year, so we suggest you grab tickets here—they won't last long!
Truffle And Fire Dinner Series At TOMA
Perth | 7 and 28 July
Winter is getting that little bit more opulent with help from our old mate truffles and TOMA's casual fine dining flair. Fire and earth team up for three distinct five-course dinners all centred around the black gold found by Gavin and the team at Australian Truffle Traders in Manjimup. Each decadent dinner will be matched with wines from a top Aussie winery, kicking off with Bekkers wines from McClaren Vale on Thursday 16 June. Get booking here.
Long Chim's Hot Gin Terrace
Perth | 14-30 July
A basement firepit, some spice-filled theatrics and a heavy dash of red hot gin—yep, Long Chim's Hot Gin Terrace is back in force this winter. You'll be whisked down to their cosy courtyard complete with heaters and hot water bottles (nobody is getting a chill here) where State Buildings Beverage Manager, Eoin Kenny, and Mitch Gurrin from Archie Rose Distilling Co. will be crafting hot gin cocktails over the fire just for you. If you haven't tried one of these hot gins made by plunging a red hot poker fresh off the fire right into your drink, consider this a winter must. The heat caramelises the sugars and there's nothing quite like it on a cold night. There are five fiery and beautifully boozy sessions on offer from July 14-30, including a special meet the distiller session which includes a whole Maa Long Chim feast. Book here.
Cabin Fever
Greater South West | July 15 - 24
Pull out your fluffiest beanies, WA's fave winter fest, Cabin Fever, is back in all its cosy glory. Running from Friday July 15 to Sunday 24, the 10-day festival will see over 40 mouth-watering events pop up down south, from Busselton to Margaret River—providing loads of opportunities to devour all the food, wine and beer your body can handle while getting nice 'n toasty with your fellow foodies.
Fleur X Truffle Hill Dinner
Perth | July 20
If there’s one establishment we trust to put up a decadent truffle dish, it’s fleur. Together with Truffle Hill and Leeuwin Estate, they’re putting on the ultimate seven course truffle degustation with matched wines, all celebrating the beautiful black gold we’re so famous for. This exclusive evening is $295, which we understand is roughly…rent. But sometimes, you can’t put a price on midweek indulgence in truffle season, and this is one of those times. Bookings are essential and you can make them here.
Disney's Frozen The Musical
Burswood | August
Warm up your vocal chords, musical lovers, because Frozen The Broadway Musical is coming to Crown Theatre this August, and you are going to want to sing along at the top of your lungs. Yep, the incredible stage version of the iconic Disney movie is coming our way, after seasons in both Sydney and Melbourne. You could try protesting that you’re way too old to be catching a Disney musical, but we know that secretly you know every word to ‘Let It Go’ and harbour fantasies of living in an ice castle.
Whether you’re six or 36, this production from the producers of Aladdin, The Lion King and Mary Poppins is bound to be a magical experience—there’s a reason it was the highest grossing new musical of its Broadway season in its first year on Broadway.
If you sign up to the waitlist, you’ll get access to the pre-sale starting at 9am on Monday 30 May—which we recommend, as tickets to this are going to go fast.
Froth Town
Claremont | 19-20 August
Beer aficionados, listen up. Froth Town is making its return to Claremont Showground this August, and with COVID restrictions out of the way, the brilliant two-day brew fest is bigger and better than ever.
What's changed? Aside from there being more brews than ever, including some exclusive frothies just for the fest, the iconic IPA Glass you get with every ticket will be back, so you can add that to your home bar collection. But most exciting, this year sees the return of live music! And they've gone and lined up an ACDC Tribute Band and Daryl Braithwaite himself to really bring the good time vibes.
If you were among the thousands of punters that sipped your way through last year’s festival, you’ll be familiar with all the other good stuff returning. A diverse selection of bevvies from over 75 breweries, cideries, distilleries and wineries, next-level food truck eats, carnival games and hilarious entertainment such as sumo wrestling, giant beer pong and even a dad bod wet t-shirt competition. Tickets are on sale now.
Listen Out
Joondalup | 25 September
Festivals are back baby! As Australia's leading dance fest, Listen Out well and truly has your post-COVID boog covered. This year's lineup features first ever Australian shows for Young Thug, Polo G, Central Cee, 24kGoldn, Louis The Child, Doechii, LP Giobbi and Nia Archives, plus favourites Disclosure and Tove Lo, as well as Chris Lake and Chris Lorenzo’s Anti Up live show world premiere, and so much more. Grab tickets and get hyped for the summer festivals to come.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Burswood | February 2023
Arguably Luhrmann’s magnum opus, the 2001 Moulin Rouge film follows a group of bohemians doing their best to keep a stage show alive. The ten-time Tony Award-winning theatre adaptation follows the same story, except with a heap more music, dancing, glitz and glamour. It's due to land at Perth's Crown Theatre next Feb. Until then, head over to the official Moulin Rouge! website and sign up to their subscriber list for early ticket access, or hold out until Thursday 28 July for general release. If you're keen to snap up one of the 'can-can' table seats and completely immerse yourself in the action, we suggest you get signed up for presale—there's only a small number available for each show.
Need Some More Ideas? We Got You.
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Not enough? Check out more awesome things to do in Perth.
Image credit: Elle Borgward, Supplied