Summer is arriving early in Perth today, as the Celebrate WA Festival turns the Perth Stadium Precinct and Burswood Park into one huge, free family day out on Sunday 24 November. After June’s WA Day event was washed out, organisers and the Cook Government promised they would bring the celebration back later in the year – and this is the rescheduled showpiece: a full day of live music, food trucks, rides, fireworks and one of the state’s biggest drone light shows.
Backed by the Western Australian Government, BHP and Lotterywest, the festival is designed as a thank-you party for the state – and a reminder that WA’s biggest civic celebration does not need a public holiday to feel like one. Gates open from the morning, with families encouraged to arrive early, wander between the parklands and the river, and stay on into the evening as the sky over the Swan River lights up.
Where and when is the Celebrate WA Festival?
The festival is centred on Burswood Park and the wider Perth Stadium Precinct, on the banks of the Swan River. The event is free to attend, with programming running through the day and headline music, drone show and fireworks scheduled for the evening. Public transport to Optus Stadium and Burswood is encouraged, with additional services and wayfinding in place for crowds moving between the park and the stadium area.
Celebrate WA, the not-for-profit organisation behind the festival and the Western Australian of the Year Awards, is using the November date to tie the event to a broader summer-in-Perth feeling: picnics on the grass, kids lined up for carnival rides, and thousands of people looking up as the drone show traces WA-themed shapes across the night sky.
Live music, WA food and a huge drone show
The centrepiece of the program is a locally curated music line-up, featuring prominent Western Australian artists performing on the main stage as the sun goes down. Curated in partnership with community station RTRFM, the roster leans heavily into home-grown indie, rock and alternative acts, underlining the festival’s aim of showcasing WA talent to a broad family crowd.
Across Burswood Park, a maze of food trucks, pop-up stalls and family activities is expected to keep crowds circulating. Previous WA Day festivals at the same site have drawn tens of thousands of people for everything from chips on a stick and ice-cream vans to cultural performances and community group activations, turning the park into one long picnic blanket.
After dark, attention shifts skyward. Organisers are promising WA’s largest drone show, choreographed above the river and stadium precinct, followed by a traditional fireworks display. For many families this will be the key reason to stay out late: a chance to see cutting-edge light technology telling a story about the state – from stylised swans to abstract nods to the coast and desert – without having to buy a ticket.
Why the festival was moved to November
This year’s festival is unusual in one important respect: it is not happening on the WA Day long weekend in June. Severe weather led to the cancellation of the 2024 event, forcing the Cook Government and Celebrate WA to promise a new date later in the year. November 24 was chosen as a way to honour that commitment and to fold the celebration into Perth’s early-summer calendar.
For the government, it is also a chance to re-emphasise WA pride at a moment when the state is once again hosting high-profile sport at Optus Stadium, with cricket fans in the precinct during the day and music fans arriving for the evening festival program. Premier Roger Cook has framed the rescheduled event as proof that the state would not “miss out” on a proper celebration of WA Day, even if the public holiday itself has long since passed.
How to make the most of the day
For Perth families planning to head in, the basic advice is simple: arrive early, bring layers and expect crowds. With free entry, carnival rides, kids’ activities and live music all packed into a single day, the festival is likely to feel busy from mid-afternoon onwards, especially around the main stage and riverside viewing areas.
Think about the event as part street party, part summer reset. If you like starting the week with structure and small rituals, pairing today’s outing with a few gentle Monday habits – a walk, a quiet coffee, or a short planning session – can help keep the post-festival slump at bay. For more ideas, Swikblog’s feature on tiny Monday rituals that set up an extraordinary week is a useful companion read.
Official updates, accessibility information and the latest program notes are best checked through Celebrate WA’s events page or the WA Government’s festival announcement before you travel. These channels will carry any last-minute weather or transport advice as crowds move into the precinct.
Written by: An independent Swikblog News Desk contributor
This article is intended as general event information and does not replace official guidance from organisers or authorities.
