Following two years in which Covid restrictions clouded the city’s biggest arts event, Perth Festival returns in February with big-name international acts on the bill once again. The biggest so far is Icelandic musician Björk, who’ll be performing four shows exclusively in Perth.

A 100-metre-high, custom-built pavilion will go up in Langley Park to house Björk’s cyber-sonic Garden of Eden, where she’ll perform her genre-defying live show Cornucopia – which, so far, has been presented in only a select number of cities around the world.

The Perth shows will be her first in Australia since 2008 (apart from a 2016 DJ set at Vivid Sydney), and the epic pavilion will have capacity for almost 5000 guests each night. You can expect screens showing futuristic landscapes and vividly imagined lifeforms to complement the music from her 2017 album Utopia. She’ll also perform beloved songs from across her 30-year career.

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“Here on Noongar Boodjar, in one of the 10 most biodiverse places on the planet, we welcome her explosion of visual and aural wonderment with open arms and excited expectation,” said artistic director Iain Grandage in a statement.

This year’s Perth Festival theme is Djinda, meaning “stars” in Noongar language. It follows 2022’s Wardan, meaning “ocean”, and 2021’s Bilya, or “river”.

Other program highlights include live music from Peaches, Bikini Kill, Kae Tempest and Bon Iver. Virginia Gay stages her hit play Cyrano, and Sydney Theatre Company brings its cine-theatre show Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

There’s also choreographer Stephanie Lake and composer Robin Fox’s ambitious work for dancers and drummers, Manifesto, and the West Australian Opera’s Carmen, as well as authors Damon Galgut and Jennifer Down in the Literature & Ideas program. Plus, Lotterywest Films returns from November 21 with the Australian premiere of Blueback, adapted from Tim Winton’s novella.

Perth Festival returns from February 10–March 5. Björk performs on March 3, 6, 9 and 12. Presales are available now. General release tickets for Björk go on sale Thursday November 3.

perthfestival.com.au