Our guide to Perth Festival 2022
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Check out Fremantle’s fun and groovy events with our guide to Perth Festival 2022. Get your To-Do Lists at the ready as we round up the best of Freo events. Whether you’re looking for family fun, a conversation with local authors or the many local acts that WA has to offer—you’re sure to have a blast. Visit PERTH FESTIVAL for the full program and bookings.
Throughout the Perth Festival events, organisers will be implementing all COVID-safe requirements to protect staff, artists and patrons. We remind everyone to have their proof of vaccination and ID ready to present upon entry to applicable venues and events. For more info visit PERTH FESTIVAL.
EscapeUnfortunately this show has been cancelled due to the ongoing changing risks around the spread of COVID-19, the large-scale nature of this event and its potential impact. For more information visit PERTH FESTIVAL.
Undertow6.30pm, Fri 4 Feb (Exhibition opening) | 10am–5pm, Sat 5 Feb–Mon 25 April (Gallery) | Fremantle Arts Centre
Undertow brings together artists working in a range of modes and materials, from large format cyanotype, to glass neon, site-specific intervention, photography, sculpture, installation, and film to celebrate the many ways artists explore and document our worlds, creating new ways of reflecting upon history and reality and in doing so offering us new ways to consider and connect narratives and experiences.
Flanked by deep waters, our state and nation’s connection with the coast is complex and multi-layered. From narratives of the beginning of time, of creation, to our collective imaginings of the future, the waters that surround our island continent and the oceans and seas of our global community are sites of tradition, transience, terror, and turmoil.
Isaac JulienFri 11 Feb–Sun 8 May | John Curtin Gallery | Free
Isaac Julien is widely recognised for exquisitely crafted film works and photography of arresting beauty, underpinned by a penetrating interrogation of the universal human concerns for social justice, equity, and freedom. Weaving these enduring concerns seamlessly through his work, his multi-screen film installations and photographs create a poetic and unique visual language.
Featured in this exhibition at the John Curtin Gallery will be two seminal works: Ten Thousand Waves and Lessons of the Hour, shown for the first-time outside Europe and the USA.
Gallery open times: Mon–Fri 11am–5pm, Sat + Sun 12–4pm
Pond6pm, Fri 11 Feb | South Lawn, Fremantle Arts Centre | $44–$49
Expect the unexpected as Pond perform tracks from their new album 9 as they offer us expansive jams and exhilarating experimentation on and off stage.
This psychedelic rock band from Perth are known for embracing the weird and unusual, whilst thriving on unique creativity, to create banger after banger.
Pond can be described in many ways, but boring is never one of them. These psych-rock geniuses will take to the lawns of Fremantle Arts Centre for an evening of sonic exploration and frenetic showmanship.
Doors open 6pm | Music from 7pm
Stella Donnelly6.30pm, Fri 18 Feb | B Shed | $44–$49
Described by Rolling Stone magazine as being ‘as fearless as she is funny’, Stella Donnelly will be taking her stunning performance to Fremantle’s B Shed for two huge nights.
Having previously played at the 2021 AFL Grand Final, sold out shows in Glastonbury, Hyperfest and playing alongside such icons as Maggie Rogers and Missy Higgins; Stella knows how to put on an awesome show.
With an inviting charm and sharp wit, you’ll be sure to have a blast and a boogie.
Doors open 6.30pm | Music from 7.15pm. This is an 18+ event.
Image credit: Emma Daisy
WA Mixtape6.30pm, Sat 19 Feb | B Shed | $35–$39
Hear the songs that define WA in a brand-new way and enjoy a night of great music.
After the success of 2021’s WA Mixtape we’re cranking it up a notch and bringing our celebration of the best in WA music from the past and present to B Shed in Freo.
This time, three amazing local artists will each perform a classic WA album, with acoustic sounds and a collection of covers performed between each of our headliners.
Doors open 6.30pm | Music from 7.30pm
BARKAA6.30–8.30pm, Fri 25 Feb | B Shed | $35–$39
BARKAA is a Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from Western New South Wales who uses music to express herself and to highlight issues impacting First Nations people. Her music have become a rallying cry for those fighting injustice. A firebrand MC with unstoppable flow, she has just released her politically potent debut EP Blak Matriarchy, dedicated to First Nations women. A leader in her community, a proud mother and an energetic performer, you won't want to miss her energetic live show at B Shed. Meet the new Matriarch of Australian rap.
Doors open 6.30pm | Music from 7.30pm
Image credit: Luke Currie-Richardson
The Business of Being A Writer4–8pm, Fri 25 Feb | Fremantle Arts Centre | $25
If you've ever thought about being a writer, then look no further than this half-day series to answer all your questions.
Image credit: Matt Landy
Ngangk Waangening: Mothers’ Stories11.30am, Sat 26 Feb | Inner Courtyard, Fremantle Arts Centre | Pay What You Can: $19
A rare and powerful story session with Aunty Doreen Nelson and Rhonda Marriott AM, editors of Ngangk Waangening: Mothers’ stories— Noongar and Yamatji mothers’ accounts of their birthing experiences. These Elder and Senior Noongar and Yamatji women have generously shared their stories as a legacy for their families and communities, and as an educational tool for midwives.
Incorporating recollections of trauma, resilience, and culture, listen as these women share memories of their grandmothers’ traditional skills and their own birthing experiences. These women highlight the importance of the cultural and educational role of Aboriginal women in the birthing process.
Legacy: Stories of Love and Resistance1pm, Sat 26 Feb | Inner Courtyard, Fremantle Arts Centre | Pay What You Can: $19
Join Dr Cindy Solonec, author of Debesa: The Story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez and Dr Elfie Shiosaki, author of Homecoming for a not-to-be-missed session exploring two very different and exquisite works of love, family, culture, and resistance.
Moderated by Sisonke Msimang, Solonec and Shiosaki discuss the hidden legacies revealed within colonial archives and the intergenerational impact of the Aborigines Act 1905.
Hannah Kent: Devotion2.30pm, Sat 26 Feb | South Lawn, Fremantle Arts Centre |Pay What You Can: $19
Join Hannah Kent as she discusses the link between belief and truth and weaving folklore, legend, and research into the most compelling, original, and magical of stories.
Hannah will appear in person subject to border restrictions. If these changes, she will appear via live stream.
Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse: Kalyakoorl, Ngalak, Warangka (Forever, We Sing)4pm, Sat 26 Feb | Front Garden, Fremantle Arts Centre | Pay What You Can: $19
Join Noongar singer-songwriter Gina Williams and her long-time collaborator Guy Ghouse for a celebration of song and culture, with storytelling and language at its heart.
Hear the stories behind the music and the connections made resonant through music in a stunning and unique anthology of songs from their first two albums
Alter Boy6.30–8.30pm, Sat 26 Feb | B Shed | $35 - $39
This six-person Perth powerhouse are bringing their dark, shiny pop hits all performed in Auslan to Fremantle.
Alter Boy’s combination of chaotic live performances featuring transgender, disabled bodies and carefully considered, unique uniforms serve the band’s collective motivation to challenge the music industry’s status quo. Expect an experience like no other with a performance that champions inclusivity, accessibility, and where Auslan takes centre stage.
Doors open 6.30pm | Music from 7.30pm
Family Day in Freo9.30am–12.30pm, Sun 27 Feb | Fremantle Arts Centre | Free
Writers Weekend has something fun for the whole family amid the lush green gardens of Fremantle Arts Centre. Family Day is back— the perfect chance to bring your littlest booklovers to experience the magic of the world of literature.
Featuring Storytime, talks, workshops, in conversation sessions with children’s authors and illustrators and plenty of interactive events, this is the perfect morning out to inspire and entertain young readers.
Michael Robotham: When You Are Mine1pm, Sun 27 Feb | Front Garden, Fremantle Arts Centre | Pay What You Can: $19
Hailed by Stephen King as an ‘absolute master’ of his craft, Michael Robotham is one of the world’s most popular crime writers.
Michael is the only Australian to twice win the coveted UK Gold Dagger award for the best crime novel of the year, a former journalist and ghost-writer.
Michael will appear via live stream.
Helen Garner: How to End A Story1pm, Sun 27 Feb | South Lawn, Fremantle Arts Centre | Pay What You Can: $19
Helen Garner joins us via live stream in conversation with Gillian O’Shaughnessy.
Helen Garner’s third volume of diaries is an account of a woman fighting to hold on to a marriage that is disintegrating around her. Living with a powerfully ambitious writer who is consumed by his work and trying to find a place for her own spirit to thrive, she rails against the confines. At the same time, she is desperate to find the truth in their relationship—and the truth of her own self.
Sara Foster & Zoe Deleuil: Ties That Bind4pm, Sun 27 Feb | Front Garden, Fremantle Arts Centre | Pay What You Can: $19
Best-selling author of You Don’t Know Me, Sara Foster and debut novelist Zoe Deleuil explore the most primal of ties that bind in their gripping new books, The Hush and The Night Village.
Zoe Deleuil will be appearing via live stream.
Feature image credit: Jess Wyld