Sure, you know we've got an amazing Perth Festival 2025 line-up. But look a little deeper and you'll find the shows even the gatekeepers don't know much about! We've uncovered six hidden gems just for you - from world-first theatre, to unbeatable Boiler Room-style sets.
1. 12 Last Songs
30 workers. 12 hours. Made for and with the people of Perth.
What is a city without people? Part live exhibition, part epic performance, 12 Last Songs invites you on an intimate theatrical experience — for one show only!
Over the 12 hours audience members come and go as they please. There's no intermission, just people of Perth performing their everyday working life from midday to midnight. This unusual and intriguing experience explores how we work, live and spend our time.
Date Sat 15 Feb 12pm – 12am
Enter anytime and leave whenever you like! (subject to capacity)
2. LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches)
A world premiere, genre bending, culture-clash comedy. This Is a matter of life and death.
What do you get when you cross two besties, a Chinese funeral and a Big Mac? The explosive world premiere of LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches).
This rip-roaring ride co-created by Joe Paradise Lui and Merlynn Tong, is a powerful and deeply personal examination of an Asian cultural experience and the enduring power of friendship. Follow besties Joe and Merlynn as they battle with tradition while holding a vigil for their dead grandfathers.
What will the lords of the Underworld have to say about all this?
Dates 21 – 24 Feb
Fri 8pm I Sat 3 & 8pm I Sun 3pm I Mon 7pm
3. Middar Koora be ye
Five decades worth of welcomes to some of the world's biggest stars. Middar long ago and today.
Archival pieces from one of Western Australia's most important creative and cultural practitioners – Noongar Elder Richard Walley – are now open for all to see.
The Middar Dance Group have welcomed the likes of Kiss, Harry Styles and Stevie Wonder to Noongar Boodjar and now you can explore photos, articles and audio recordings from some of group's most iconic moments over the last 50 years.
Dates 16 Feb – 1Mar
Wed – Fri 11am – 5pm
Sat 11am – 7pm
Sun 16 Feb 11am – 7pm
Performances Sat 22 Feb & 1 Mar
4. Better Off Said
Leave no verbal stone unturned. Find closure. Sing the truth from the rooftops before its too late.
Haven't we all wished there was something we'd shouted aloud or delivered an important message to someone out in the world. Better Off Said, co-created by Emilie Zoe Baker and Marieke Hardy, is your opportunity to do just this.
Join theatre-maker and performer Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, musician Molly Priest, journalist and writer Gillian O'Shaughnessy and reviewer and passionate foodie Rinnie Nelson for an evening of catharsis, yearning, healing, joy and closure.
Date Thu 20 Feb 8pm (doors 7pm)
5. Joseph Keckler
Operatic monologues, with a twist like no other!
From the depths of hell with his booming bass to the careless whispers of his soprano, Joseph Keckler creates operatic monologues that cover everything from psychedelic mushroom trips to buying a jacket.
In this intimate evening Joseph shares – songs, stories and films that zero in on moments of daily life and spins them into affecting and at times absurd underworld voyages.
He also does Schubert lieder.
Date Fri 28 Feb & Sat 1 Mar doors 9.30pm
6. Moktar
A tantalising mesh of subcultures guaranteed to go deep.
Renowned for his unique mixes and sampling, Moktar combines the dark sounds of club, house and underground techno with traditional Arabic instrumentation.
Joining the line-up is Boorloo's ambassador of underground dance music and pure positivity, Rok Riley who seamlessly connects the dots between every strain of hip-hop, grime, house, funk, hardcore and techno known to humankind ... as only she can! Also on the bill is māyā, whose sets are always filled with high-energy sounds.
Date Fri 21 Feb doors 7.30pm