Perth musicians launch local festival as major tours drop WA dates

Perth’s distance, smaller population and rising production costs are making the city harder for large touring festivals to serve, according to organisers and industry representatives. Free Aviary is responding with Lift Off, a February festival featuring Western Australian artists.

A Perth band is planning a festival featuring only Western Australian artists after several major touring events cancelled their dates in the state. Free Aviary’s Lift Off festival will be held at Perth’s Ice Cream Factory on February 20, around the time Laneway had originally been expected to take place.

The move follows the withdrawal of three touring festivals—Laneway, Strummingbird and Froth and Fury Fest—from Perth dates for 2027, according to the supplied ABC News report. Free Aviary lead singer Tom Stokes said artists and large festivals often bypass Perth because of the distance and expense involved, but that the decisions affect a local scene that benefits when major acts visit.

Laneway co-founder Danny Rogers told ABC News that it cost an additional $1 million to freight equipment and fly artists to Perth for the festival’s 2026 shows. He said the 2027 schedule would also have conflicted with the Grammys, creating a difficult route for a tour that needed to return to Australia’s east coast.

Ticket sales have added to the challenge. Rogers said Laneway sold 50,000 tickets in Melbourne and Sydney last year, compared with 21,000 in Perth. He said greater support would help the festival return to the city. The festival, which has toured to Perth since 2009, received the inaugural Best Music Festival award at the 2025 ARIA Awards.

Australian Festivals Association chief executive Lizzie Butterworth said the sector was facing a combination of COVID’s continuing effects, changing audience behaviour and rising costs. Perth’s smaller population, fuel-price volatility, and increasing airfares and freight costs made larger events riskier, she said. She added that Perth audiences tended to purchase tickets later because festivals were less likely to sell out.

West Australian Music chief executive Owen Whittle said the state should build festivals around its own artists rather than depend on touring events. Stokes said Lift Off had already received support from Perth’s music community, while Butterworth described the local industry and its audience as resilient.