Things To Do This Month: Regional Food Festivals, Farewell to a Freo Fave, Fresh Theatre, and More

Technically, March marks the start of autumn, which feels hard to believe when we’re looking down the barrel of a string of days above 30 degrees Celsius. But even if the weather is starting to cool down, Perth’s events calendar is not.

Here are our picks of the best things to do in March.

Jump to:

• Festivals

• Theatre

• Art

• Food and drink news

Festivals and events in March 2026

There are so many events, food festivals and pop-ups coming to Perth this year. We’ve got heaps of them bookmarked – but these are the events happening this month.

• AFC Women’s Asian Cup, March 4 to 17: The Matildas are back for The AFC Women’s Asian Cup. It’s the second time the tournament has come to Australia, with games being hosted in Perth, Gold Coast and Sydney. The competition doubles as a qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, so there’s plenty at stake for all involved. Perth Rectangular Stadium and Perth Stadium will play host. The Matildas played in Perth on March 1, but throughout the rest of the tournament, the city will host matches featuring the teams representing Japan, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. Two quarterfinals and the semifinal will also take place in Perth. Tickets start from $20.

• Taste Great Southern, March 5 to 8: Taste Great Southern returns with events that celebrate coastal cool, including a Cold Nips session at Middleton Beach; Peak to Plate, a hike of the Porongorups followed by a feast; and an oyster and riesling masterclass at Albany Whaling Station hosted by Emma Farrelly.

• Joondalup Festival, March 7 to 22: Just half an hour north of Perth, Joondalup is going all-out this month. At Joondalup Festival you can expect Kaya, a celebration of Noongar culture; an art installation in the lakes of Sir James McCusker Park; and a water and pyrotechnics parade at Hillarys Boat Harbour.

• Mandurah Crab Festival, March 14 & 15: Back for its 25th year, Mandurah Crab Fest celebrates the famous blue manna crab. Over two jam-packed days, you’ll eat more crab than you ever thought possible and enjoy free entertainment from acts like Thelma Plum and DJ Havana Brown.

• Nieuw Ruin is closing on Sunday March 15 after five years of serving great wine and beloved dishes, and nurturing kitchen talent. Over the next two weeks, executive chef Blaze Young is inviting former staff to get back behind the bar and resurrecting dishes from the opening menu, including the pie floater, monkfish “under a fur coat” and wildflower-glazed whole roast duck.

• Perth Design Week, March 19 to 26: Perth Design Week highlights the creatives who make our city beautiful through a thoughtful program of exhibitions, panel discussions and community events, with the Designing for the Future panel discussion kicking things off a day early on March 18 at the Liberty Theatre.

Theatre in March 2026

There’s so much great theatre coming to Perth this year, including these three hot shows staged as part of Perth Festival.

• Anastasia The Broadway Musical: Faithful to the 1997 animated film, Anastasia is touring Australia for the first time with Georgina Hopson (Titanique) in the lead role. Hopson honours the magic of the movie, especially in her renditions of Journey to the Past and Once Upon a December. Joining her on stage is Robert Tripolino as Dmitry. There’s romance, adventure and sparkle, and just a sprinkle of deception, rebellion and defiance. Anastasia The Broadway Musical runs from March 3 to 28 at Crown Theatre. Tickets are on sale now. 

• RBG: Of Many, One: Heather Mitchell is a powerhouse in any role, but as Ruth Bader Ginsburg she’s the walking, talking trailblazing “notorious RBG”. Mitchell embodies the US Supreme Court justice with a certain grace and quietness that makes you feel like the jurist is right there on stage. Written by Olivier Award-winning playwright Suzie Miller (Prima Facie), the one-woman play is an entertaining and emotional tour through RBG’s pivotal moments, from her teen years to her death in 2020. RBG: Of Many, One runs from March 19 to April 4 at Heath Ledger Theatre. Buy tickets here. 

Art in March 2026

There’s never a bad time to be an art lover in Perth, with killer exhibitions planned for 2026. But March is a particularly packed month. Here are our picks.

• Sculpture by the Sea: Sculpture by the Sea is returning to Perth in March for its 21st Western Australian exhibition. The 2025 WA iteration was cancelled due to a lack of federal funding and sorely missed in the local art scene. This year’s exhibition will include 70 pieces from renowned local and international sculptors dotted along the natural amphitheatre of Cottesloe Beach. Sculpture by the Sea will run from March 6 to March 23 at Cottesloe Beach.

• Melissa Sandy | The Void: Yindjibarndi artist Melissa Sandy shares a deeply personal series about grief as part of Perth Festival. The Pilbara artist has made intricately patterned metallic paintings, which are accompanied by audiovisual works and a documentary film created in Jirrayi/Mount Florence on the eastern fringes of Yindjibarndi Country. The Void is commissioned by Boorloo Contemporary, which is also showing a series of vibrant, provocative flags made by Kait James at East Perth Power Station (also part of the Perth Festival program). The Void runs until March 28 at PS Art Space. 

• Awakening Histories: Before British invasion, First Nations people in Australia had an ongoing relationship with the Makassan seafarers of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. In this Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (Pica) exhibition, artists from Australia and Indonesia reflect on the importance of this cultural exchange. Awakening Histories runs until March 29 at Central Galleries. 

• Painting Itself / 绘画本身: Pica has invited five painters from Hong Kong, Malaysia, London, Shanghai and Singapore to make paintings “through an Asian lens”. Their works are instilled with internal struggles and created using painting practices from East and Southeast Asia. Painting Itself / 绘画本身 runs until March 29 at West End Gallery. 

• Under Waters: Step into an aquatic-themed installation at Perth Festival, where your body movements will trigger digital marine shell forms to move through water, bobbing through digital coral and sand. Under Waters is the creation of Wiradjuri Scottish artist April Phillips, who fuses science, poetry and First Nations knowledge into her artworks. This interactive installation will live at Pica as part of its season one program before touring regional WA later this year. Under Waters runs until March 29 at Studio 2, Pica. 

• Pippin Drysdale: Infinite Terrain: Fremantle-based ceramicist Pippin Drysdale has been working with clay for more than 40 years, and at AGWA you can see 400 of her hand-carved pieces in a major retrospective. It includes perfectly domed porcelain mounds painted in sunset oranges; delicate pastel vases with tiny bases and bulbous middles; and fingerprint-like curves etched into the clay that look like lines drawn in the sand. While they’re individually mesmerising, together they’re otherworldly. Pippin Drysdale: Infinite Terrain runs until April 6 at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. 

• Brad Rimmer | Loom of the Land: Contemporary art photographer Brad Rimmer has captured the beauty, isolation and vastness of WA’s wheatbelt region in a series of photos taken over two decades. There are two new video works that focus on the stillness of abandoned wheatbelt town halls, no longer hubs of community connection. Brad Rimmer | Loom of the Land runs until April 26 at Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre. 

• Pascale Giorgi | Worst Hits: One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, right? For Fremantle-based artist Pascale Giorgi, her artistic trash will become the central focus of a solo exhibition themed around the mistakes, leftovers and waste that come with being a multidisciplinary artist 10 years into her career. Worst Hits will reimagine Giorgi’s studio trash into new sculptural works. Look out for humorous vegetable shapes, replica neoclassical sculptures reminiscent of her Sculpture by the Sea artwork, and other motifs such as a mug with a baroque clown face. Pascale Giorgi | Worst Hits runs from until April 26 at Goolugatup Heathcote.

Food news and new openings:

What we’ve covered recently:

• St Patrick’s Day is on March 17 this year. If you’re looking for somewhere to celebrate. then hit up these three new Irish pubs. Each one serves spice bags, pours Guinness and dishes up plenty of craic.

• Leederville fave North 54 launched dinner services last month. Dinner will run from 5pm until 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday nights. The menu includes stracciatella ca thim kho nam xo with braised eggplant, XO mushrooms, and Strollios focaccia; bo kho beef tartare with shallots, Laughing Cow cheese, and a “chicken fat baguette”; pad krapow clams served with Chinese dipping doughnuts, and a whole market fish.

You might have missed:

• Valentine’s Day may have been last month, but romance should be a year-round event. Here are Perth’s best date night spots.

• Nieuw Ruin is closing this month – but the team is already chatting about “V2”.

• Our wrap of the nine new venues we got excited about over the last three months.

• Our "Supper Partying" columnist Becca Wang has started a new series teaching us how to host a dinner party for four for $50 or less. Here are her recipes and recs for an izakaya-inspired party. 

Reporting by Emma Joyce and Chelsea Seale.