Perth Festival will overflow with Western Australian creativity as we celebrate the 2021 theme of Bilya (river) this summer.

Just as the river is a source of revival, play and reflection, Festival 2021 is both celebratory and contemplative as we focus attention on the local brilliance that would thrill audiences anywhere in the world.

The Festival opens in dazzling style as City of Lights starts a 22-night spectacular takeover of the Perth Cultural Centre – and Tim Minchin performs the world-premiere of his new album Apart Together orchestrated live in concert with West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Kings Park.

As Perth Festival’s new home for 2021, City of Lights brings live music and other tasty treats to tempt the senses from the State Theatre Centre of WA Courtyard to the street fare of Lantern Lane behind The Rechabite and all venues in between. 

WA Museum Boola Bardip hosts several special events, including the exquisite One and Many chamber music series staged under the famous Blue Whale, and the landmark exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters from the National Museum of Australia.

Festival 2021 pays tribute to WA’s unique circumstances, with audiences set to enjoy exceptional Festival experiences from our extraordinary artists. The world may not be making its way to Perth at Festival time – but in so many ways it is already here as we celebrate the rich diversity of our community.

The extensive 2021 program includes 18 world premieres and 44 Festival commissions, more than twice as many as in 2020.

The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery’s survey of celebrated WA artist Olga Cironis, Dislocation, will be a highlight of the Visual Arts Program, as will an extensive Abdul-Rahman Abdullah retrospective at John Curtin Gallery and The Gathering, a seminal PICA exhibition by First Nations artists from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand reflecting on gatherings of people, ideas and objects in large numbers in challenging times. 

Perth Festival runs 5 – 28 February 2021. Lotterywest Films runs from 30 November 2020 to 28 March 2020. 

Tickets go on sale to Friends of the Festival at 12pm noon WST on Wednesday 18 November and to the general public at 9am WST on Wednesday 25 November. 

More information is available on the Perth Festival website.