What’s Happening? Program Highlights & Ticketing The Festival Overture begins the culture slam with the traditional Noongar people’s welcome, 500 drummers and opera in the park. More than three weeks later, it all winds up with a mass ballroom-dancing Festival Finale choreographed by John ‘Cha Cha’ O’Connell of major-movie fame and featuring a cast of thousands ­ the people of Perth! If you can’t find something among these diverse bookend events to get you enthused, perhaps the fact that they’re free will! Between these two community extravaganzas are scores of exciting events. Every show is well worth a look, but the big-ticket items include: Opus Cactus from dynamic US dancers and illusionists Momix; the daring and multi-talented Sandra Bernhard in concert; Tan Dun’s take on JS Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion; the Kronos Quartet; laughs from H G Nelson; the signature visual arts exhibition Seeking Transcendence, featuring works by artists such as Edvard Munch and Mark Rothko; and the one-man tour de force by Steven Berkoff, Shakespeare’s Villains. There’s also some fabulous performance artists appearing in the streets of Perth, including the enigmatic French troupe Les Transformateurs and the inquisitive local sea creatures called Aqua Sapiens, who are on Mission Inconspicuous. Their street theatre is among the many free events on offer during the festival. To inspire ideas and conversation beyond all this theatre, dance, music and visual arts, the Words and Ideas program (including Writers’ Week February 17-23) offers lectures and forums about specific festival events, as well as standalone events such as a mass book club and lectures by such acclaimed writers as Bill Bryson, Don Watson, Helen Garner and Salley Vickers. Feeling left out, film buffs? Don’t worry, the huge outdoor Perth International Arts Festival Film Season has been going strong since late November, and continues well into March. Highlights during the festival include silent classic The Sentimental Bloke with live accompaniment, and new Australian drama The Widower, also with live accompaniment by Slava Grigoryan and Lyndon Terracini. Les Transformatuers Momix: Opus Cactus The Program The Highlights Free Events