To do in Perth: Part 1

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Perth doesn’t have much, a few great statues, a total of 5 skyscrapers, a population that doesn’t reach 3 million, and the record for the most isolated city. Yay, right? But what we do host, and that we are particularly proud of is our Fringe World Festival. And we should be, it is the third biggest in the world. It is an annual performance platform held between January and February and is produced by Not-For-Profit cultural organisation Artrage Inc. The charity has been the forefront of enriching and evolving the creative arts and culture of Western Australia since its beginnings in 1983. And supporting the Festival since it was founded in 2011.

And it’s not just a statewide experience, interstate and international acts travel to our small town to participate, including comedy, circus, theatre and visual arts performers. A notably open-access Festival, Fringe World invites artists from anywhere in the world to register as part of the event. In 2017, over 3,000 artists were involved.

This year’s Festival presented 700 shows in over 150 venues and performances were spread across Perth, with local communities and neighbourhoods playing host as well. More than 350,000 tickets were sold, generating total box office sales in excess of $10 million. Attendance reached over 750,000 combining both ticketed and non-ticketed events.

The Experience Perth official website describes the event as “a summer’s smorgasbord of entertainment”. With many traditional – such as nationally recognised stand-up comedy artists – and non-traditional – my mother and sisters attended a self-proclaimed “penetrating” circus drag queen cabaret – acts and venues. In February, my family supported a family friend by climbing down 2 flights of stairs below ground level to see a play he featured in at a purposely-unkempt bar.

Side note – this was the night I forgot my ID and had ‘underage’ stamped on my hand upon entering the establishment. I have not been underage in 4 years, and what a whirlwind it was to be not-yet 18 for a night again. I drank ginger beer-spiked ice out of a plastic cup and my sister spilt red wine on me because the bar tender failed to cut her off. Whirlwind, right?

The Festival runs over 4 weeks and installs food trucks that caters not only for the conventional attendees but also specifically for the open-minded. My mother and I watched a collective of beanie wearing, novelty-tee donning people struggle with avocado bun burgers before the play we were all due to see. To be fair, their efforts were pretty valiant. Mine were too though – don’t get me wrong – when I sat down to eat my spaghetti and meatballs sans-utensils. Similar to my youthful avocado lovers, I decided to endure my predicament as best I could (plus I was being lazy af). Mum eventually became so embarrassed with my unashamed plate to mouth method that she went over to the stall to get me the fork I had asserted I didn’t need. I allowed her her dignity and used the fork. The meatballs didn’t taste the same, though, weirdly enough.

When I travel and people ask where I’m from they don’t usually ask what state or city, they merely feel the need to clarify the country. I offer it up anyway because Perth is my home and I want people to know about it, even if it’s just in that moment after I say it. I typically follow up my reveal with ‘it’s a small place, everyone knows everyone and there’s not much else apart from the beach.’ But isn’t that why people go to Australia? For the beach and the people? We don’t have the biggest theme parks or wildlife you can affectionately pet (unless you simultaneously want to lose a limb or life). We have camaraderie and culture, not flashy streets and enviable government buildings. And that’s not so bad. I know I definitely take it for granted sometimes. But bragging to others about where I live is a way I’m making up for it. Suck it everywhere else, Perth rules.

Image credit: "Fringe World Festival, 2014" iiNet Blog