Perth International Arts Festival Reveals New Home For 2016-19

The Perth International Arts Festival will return to the West Australian capital early next year, bringing with it — as always — a spread of bands, artists, thinkers and other creative luminaries to stoke the flames of cultural engagement.

Perhaps sensing that the event continues to hit new heights year on year, organisers today revealed that, from 2016-19, the annual event will move its popular Chevron Festival Gardens precinct to Elizabeth Quay's Lot 4, "a temporary outdoor venue for festivals, concerts and sporting events" at the intersection of The Esplanade and William Street.

Heralding the announcement today, the minister for planning, culture and the arts, John Day, described the shift from the event's previous HQ at the city's Cultural Centre to Elizabeth Quay as "a great outcome for the tens of thousands of Perth International Arts Festival attendees".

"Lot 4 has always been earmarked as a temporary public space for a range of events at Elizabeth Quay," Day said in a statement. "Its sale will be staged to meet market demand and in the interim it will be available as an exciting new outdoor venue for the community to enjoy.

"There was an incredibly positive response to a call for expressions of interest from event operators earlier this year, with many indicating a strong appetite for the kind of flexible space planned for Lot 4."

The temporary use of Lot 4 for events has been made possible amid the multi-stage redevelopment of Elizabeth Quay, with six of the nine developmental opportunities at lots 2 & 3 already locked down alongside a further two expressions of interest, with submissions now being assessed and shortlisted. Lot 4 will be released to the market in four years' time, giving PIAF at least until 2019 to utilise the space for is Festival Chevron Gardens.

The 2016 Perth International Arts Festival will unveil its program tomorrow, 4 November, with the Festival Chevron Gardens running at Elizabeth Quay from 11 February to 6 March next year.

For more information, see the festival's website.