Perth Fringe World Festival: Over 3,000 Performers Take Over Northbridge & CBD

With its racy burlesque shows, spicy cabaret and acrobatic performances, Perth's Fringe World has never been for the faint-hearted. But dig a little deeper into this year's programme and you will find it's not all about the risque and the outrageous. Take Taiwanese act #since1994 for example. Ostensibly they are an all-female contemporary circus ensemble whose eye-catching feats of acrobatic prowess defy gravity and showcase the sheer strength of their bodies. Yet they are much more than that. As #since1994 creator Chih-Ling Mei explains, their act is aimed at challenging Asian gender stereotypes and the oppression of women in Taiwan. Chih-Ling Mei said the performance rebels against expectations of women in the circus and shows what they can do by demonstrating their strength through acrobatics. She said #since1994 draws on the perspectives of women born between 1994 and 2000, a generation which had experienced a lot of prejudice. Over 600 shows Arts Minister Simone McGurk says Fringe is all about stimulating audiences and nurturing creative talent. "I can't think of a more accessible, fun event than Fringe," she said as she launched the 30-day event on Tuesday. This year's Fringe World encompasses more than 600 shows and features over 3,000 performers in venues mostly centred on Northbridge and the CBD, but also including places further afield such as Scarborough and even Busselton. The newly reopened Liberty Theatre is one of the featured venues this year, an old cinema that first opened in 1954 but had laid dormant in the heart of the CBD for decades before it was recently rebranded as an artists' venue. The Blue Room Theatre in Northbridge returns to the Fringe fold this year as a performance venue for the first time in over a decade, and this year also sees the return of the Fountain Bar, a circular bar imported from the Netherlands featuring a rooftop water feature. The launch of Fringe World kicks off Perth's festival season, with the more traditional Perth Festival due to open in a fortnight. Like Fringe, this year's Perth Festival features a mix of local and international acts including dance, theatre and film in venues across the city. The revitalised East Perth Power Station on the banks of the Swan River will again be a centrepiece of the festival, featuring live music every night and vivid, colourful works from First Nations artists projected on its walls. Fringe World Perth is the third largest fringe festival in the world, coming in behind only Edinburgh and Adelaide and organisers are expecting audiences to exceed 500,000 again this year. Tickets average $35 a head, and there are a host of community and free events, including some that are family friendly, to complement the sassier offerings. Fringe World runs from Wednesday, January 21 to Sunday, February 15.