Perth Festival 2025

Image: East Perth Power Station. Photographer: Tristan McKenzie

Perth Festival today announced its full 2025 program, with new Artistic Director Anna Reece, inviting Perth audiences and visitors to taste the salty air, feel the sand dunes beneath their feet, be challenged by truth-tellers and play with mischief-makers.  

Running for 24 days from Fri 7 Feb 2025, with 104 different events, 64 of which are free, art in all its forms from Western Australia and across the globe can be experienced in a Festival that aims to surprise and delight. 

The Festival, featuring over 380 artists, including 143 international artists and 173 local West Australian artists, highlights range from legendary queen of cool PJ Harvey and Irish sensations Fontaines D.C. kicking off their national tours in Perth, to first Australian performances from world class European choreographers in Marco da Silva Ferreira and Christos Papadopoulos, from Australian rock icon Peter Garrett and electronic music duo Electric Fields, to epic international centrepiece Mahabharata and Tina Satter’s Is This A Room. 

The program includes seven Perth Festival commissions, five world premieres and a further six Australian premieres or Australian exclusives, as well as the transformation of two of the city’s most iconic venues, the East Perth Power Station and the Perth Town Hall into exciting new Festival sites. 

Image: Perth Festival Creative Director Anna Reece_Photographer: Duncan Wright/

Perth Festival Artistic Director Anna Reece says: 'To deliver a festival for my home and the city I love is beyond my greatest dreams. This bold and spirited international capital city of endless opportunity and kaleidoscopic possibility, with a pulse is as vibrant as it is eclectic.

'The 2025 Perth Festival looks to the future of art and the world we inhabit together, through a program that is simultaneously contemporary and nostalgic. We will create a fever, a hunger, a boldness — stories of truth telling and a sense of mischief. We will deliver experiences of surprise, delight, discovery, feast and provocation — dancing in the dunes just as much as we will be debating in town halls.  

'We hope to entice our audiences into all kinds of spaces across our city with spectacular events that are accessible and immersive, that span our cultural foundations as a state and a city, from our First Nations to our European and Asian migration stories. Everyone is welcome at Perth Festival.'

Image: Karla Bidi. Photographer: Tristan McKenzie

The Festival opens with the world premiere of Karla Bidi, inspired by the Noongar tradition of lighting fires to greet and guide visitors. This experience will transform the Derbarl Yerrigan/Swan River into am illuminated pathway, with beacons of light stretching along the river from the hills to the Indian Ocean, each serving as a symbolic campfire of welcome, warmth, and inclusivity. 

Exclusive to Perth, highlights from the theatre program include Mahabharata, a stunning interpretation of an ancient Sanskrit poem by Toronto’s Why Not Theatre (seen as two separate shows or, for the ultimate marathon experience, one complete event with an optional traditional Indian feast and storytelling session) running from midday to midnight; 12 Last Songs is a one-off part live exhibition and part epic performance, inviting audiences to meet people they never get the chance to meet in everyday life; Is This A Room, the true story and interrogation of whistleblower Reality Winner; and by Western Australia’s The Last Great Hunt, the world premiere of Night Night, the tale of Pip, an Antarctic artist on a quest to discover the origin of life.  

Image: LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches). Image supplied by Perth Festival

The world premiere of LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches) by Jo Lui and Merlynn Tong will take audiences on a wild ride into the depths of the Chinese afterlife, unravelling the bonds of friendship, culture, and redemption; and August: Osage County by Black Swan Theatre Company & Belvoir St Theatre presents Tracy Letts’ caustic and darkly funny exploration of a family in meltdown. 

Film, traditional Balinese music and EDM collide in Samsara: A Cine-Concert. Featuring traditional dance, masks and wayang kulit (Indonesian shadow puppetry), this stunning experience, with a soaring live score, created by acclaimed Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, asks what price you would pay to fulfill your heart’s desire. 

In a historic move, the East Perth Power Station will open its doors as Perth Festival’s newest precinct, transforming the long-dormant site into the ultimate destination for hot summer nights.  Set along the river’s edge, the venue will welcome the public for the first time in years, bringing fresh energy to one of Perth’s most significant landmarks as it becomes the beating heart of this year’s festival celebrations.  

When the sun sets, the façade of the Power Station will serve as a backdrop for an art commission featuring projected works from three First Nations artists. 

Image: Casa Musica - Emily Wurramara. Photographer: Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore.

Every Wednesday to Sunday afternoon, the Power Station will come alive with Casa Musica, a vibrant celebration of music, food, and culture inspired by the lively piazzas and parks of southern Europe. This free event promises world-class performances from across the Indian Ocean rim and beyond, featuring acts from Reunion Island, South Africa, India and Italy as well as our very own local artists 

After dark, a hidden corner will transform into a main stage for experimental, electronic and live music, promising an unforgettable experience in this monumental industrial setting, featuring acts such as celebrated performer Nils Frahm for two enticingly hypnotic nights; Midnight Oil’s frontman Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos in a rare solo performance; Alter Boy performing their entire catalogue of self-described ‘queerlectro pop noir’; Norwegian duo Röyksopp for a very special DJ set, multi-award-winning Australian electronic music duo Electric Fields; a kaleidoscopic mash-up of African and electronic elements by Ibibio Sound Machine; Egyptian-Australian DJ, Moktar along with C.FRIM. Full program to drop in December. 

Meanwhile, The Embassy, Perth’s cherished ballroom – once home to 80s raves, New Year’s Eve blowouts, department-store staff balls and old-school dance lessons — will be reimagined in the Perth Town Hall, transforming it into a vibrant space of nostalgic charm, contemporary flair and provocative experiences. 

Imagea: Camille O' Sullivan - The Embassy. PhotographerL Barry McCall

The Embassy will present an array of music from classical ensembles to rockabilly blues, alongside Summit, thought-provoking storytelling. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Embassy Up Late will serve as the free Festival late-night hotspot - an artist club, infused with a little bit of surprise and delight.