Perth Festival Welcomes You To ‘The Embassy’: 'It's Quite A Wild Ride'

For Perth, The Embassy is an old new venue. 

To elaborate, the novelty moniker now being given to Perth Town Hall for WA’s upcoming Perth Festival is one of not just this year’s run of music, art and culture flooding the streets of Boorloo, but also a time capsule into a part of Perth’s history. Opening this Friday, 14th February, with the goal to “reimagine the beloved dancehall of yesteryear”, Artistic Director Anna Reece ran us through what to expect from the next big venue to spark up Perth Festival 2025. 

A Nod To The Perth Of Yesteryear 

The original Embassy Ballroom was a place where generations of Perth residents gathered to dance, celebrate, and create memories. 

“The Embassy Ballroom was a ballroom that existed in Perth that was an absolute epicentre, kind of during the 60s right up to the early 80s, and it was demolished in the early 80s to make way for the boom of America’s Cup - that big yacht race,” Reece explains. “And unfortunately, over that time, a lot of our really beautiful buildings full of character were demolished.

“But the Embassy Ballroom was a place where people would learn how to dance. There were New Year's Eve balls there. It was a big place for workers. So, department stores would have their annual staff balls there. You talk to a particular generation, an older generation in Perth, and everyone's like, ‘Oh, I got engaged there,’ or ‘My dad played in a band [there].’ So yeah, it's a place that doesn't exist anymore that was really dear to people.”

The Perth Town Hall’s Temple, with its ornate ceilings and intimate atmosphere, has been transformed into a tribute version of the Embassy of old for the festival.

Reece adds, “I'm nostalgic; I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic. I love jazz; I love big bands. And I just kind of thought, when I was thinking about this festival, that there still really is a place for that. I think people just to come together… [and] really want to dance and listen to music in a slightly more intimate environment.”

While the original Embassy Ballroom was a place of exclusion for many, The Embassy 2025 is a space where everyone is welcome.

“Fundamentally, an Embassy is meant to be somewhere where you feel safe and represented, right?” Reece says. “What we want this embassy to be is that everyone is welcome.” 

Bevs, Beats & Outrageous Treats 

The Embassy’s program is a carefully curated blend of nostalgia and innovation, featuring everything from jazz, soul, spoken word, and contemporary music from the realms of Boorloo and beyond.

“There are really interesting musicians from around the world who will just blow you away, but in a very relaxed kind of cabaret environment,” Reece says. “We’ve got the Embassy Big Band, curated by the phenomenal Ali Bodycoat, as a nod to the jazz era that defined the original ballroom. But we’re also showcasing contemporary artists who are pushing boundaries and telling important stories.” 

Among the highlights is Tammy Nielsen, whose album Kingmaker will be performed over two nights.

“She's just so phenomenal, an absolute powerhouse,” Reece says. Local WA jazz artist Ali Bodycoat will also be taking over The Embassy for a 2-night stint. And then there’s Véronique Serret featuring William Barton with Migrating Bird, described as a “musical conversation with nature. Reece also boasts of a brand-new commission by Australian-Korean artist Sonny Kim, who’s brought together a stunning ensemble of South Asian Australian musicians. “So it's really, it's really quite a wild ride in the Embassy,” Reece summates. 

As for those wanting to get a bit more rowdy this Perth Fest season, the Embassy will be switching the romantic genres for something a little heavier, with Fridays after 10 pm reserved for The Embassy’s Up Late series. Local favourites such as Moesha and Eva Short For Tax Evasion will be joined by the likes of New Phono, Musu, NAFTA and more to kick off the weekends. 

New Summits 

Beyond the music, The Embassy will host several ‘Summit Discussions’: a series of artist-led conversations exploring pressing global and local issues, such as queer identity, food politics, and climate change. 

“Summit's a really exciting one for me,” Reece emphasises. “We've just announced the program for that. It's not your standard ‘artist talk, panel, conversation’; it's an afternoon and a night of really heavy-hitting artist-led provocative discussion about some of the things within the existing festival, but really kind of how they're connecting with our immediate world, society and politics right now.

“We've got five sessions. It's Pay What You Can. You come into the Embassy. It'll be a very relaxed setting, sitting on the floor, sitting on chairs. There's a bar. But, this is about engaging, to be honest, I hope, a younger audience. “ 

One of the standout sessions is Crisis, Restoration, and Contradictions, which focuses on the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) and the “state of our river and how it is the necessity of here”. According to Reece, one of the main exhibitions, Karla Bidi, will help draw attention and work as a springboard for conversations for this discussion, as the installation will run the length of the river.

Karla Bidi, translating from Noongar language to fire trail, will combine sound, music and light to serve as a welcome to country for visitors to the state and show that The Dreaming hums with life over the now urban hotspot. 

“The call to action that we need to care for it. To hear from different perspectives, to hear from academics who operate in a Western education world, but also to hear from our Nyoongar elders about what people need to do, what the river used to be like, and what the river could go back to.” 

With all sessions held next Saturday, 22nd February, there will be heaps to learn and debate about. “Another Summit Discussion is titled Repatriation and Rebellious Objects, and that's a really interesting conversation, again, from artists from across the festival about the necessity and the symbolism of returning cultural objects, or just culture, back to its original home.

“We've got an amazing session about food politics and about the North West Kimberley and the meat market. We’ve got a performance lecture by these incredible artists from Naarm exploring the kind of evolution of queer identity and the challenges that they’ve had.”

Where To Next, Perth?

For Reece, The Embassy is more than just a venue for Perth Festival 2025—it’s a statement of intent. “Across the next four years, with the artists that we program and with the conversations we have, we'll explore the global politics and the themes within the festival,” she says. “I love seeing this shift where we are employing people closer to home who understand our communities and the country that we're on, and the incredible artistic sector of Australia.

“I think when you know that, when you start in a role like this, you've got all these shortcuts, and you've got great relationships and understanding. So hopefully, it means that this festival resonates more deeply, you know, with the West Australian community, but hopefully the Australian community more broadly.” 

So, whether you’re there for the jazz, the soul, or the conversations that challenge and inspire, The Embassy promises to be a highlight of Perth Festival 2025. As Reece puts it, “Everyone is welcome.”

You can find more information about The Embassy at this year’s Perth Festival here.