February is peak summer festival season, with Fringe World continuing in Perth and Midsumma also extending into this month (see January’s summer festival guide part 1 for more details). New festivals hitting their stride in February 2025 include Perth Festival, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Adelaide Fringe and Adelaide Festival.
Australia’s oldest international festival made its debut in 1953. The 2025 Perth Festival (7 February to 2 March) marks another debut, being the first of four festivals to be overseen by Artistic Director Anna Reece (whose previous roles include stints as Executive Producer at Perth Festival, Executive Producer of The Giants, which attracted a total audience of 1.4 million people to the streets of Perth in 2015, and co-CEO of Darwin Festival). Reece, who has stewardship of the Festival until 2028, told ArtsHub last year, “Always, when you’re considering programming a festival, the big question is: how are we relevant? How are we responsive and how are we unique?”
