The Board of Perth International Cabaret Festival (PICF) has confirmed that the 2025 event will not proceed, and that PICF will cease operations, effective immediately.
The festival has enjoyed five years of artistic achievements, community engagements, and growing cultural and economic impact – however due to a critical shortfall in funding, they have been left with no choice but to close.
It was founded in 2019 by Graham Lovelock and Ali Welburn.
Perth is the last remaining state in Australia to have a dedicated cabaret festival. The event was established in 2019 as a way to celebrate the art of cabaret, and present the opportunity to bring world-class talents to the iconic stages of His Majesty’s Theatre. In its lifetime, PICF showcased more than 300 artists across more than 100 shows, attracting thousands of audience members from all over the place.
"Despite our best efforts, a series of unfortunate outcomes around funding and the funding announcement delays put us in the difficult position of not being able to proceed with this year's festival," Co-Founder Ali Welburn tells scenestr.
"And, despite a request to the State Government to vary the funding we had received to cover some daily operational costs that would then allow us to present some smaller events later in the year, this request was not approved. This placed us in the difficult position of having to cease operations."
"This is not the outcome any of us were expecting and certainly not the way we had intended 2025 to unfold, especially given the success of the 2024 festival. It is of course, very distressing from our part and we are all heartbroken the situation has come to this and we wont get to present the exceptional 2025 programme."
The 2024 event generated more than $4.5 million in multiplied total economic impact, and drew more than 5,800 attendees.
Perth International Cabaret Festival was led by Helpmann Award-winning Artistic Director Michael Griffiths, and quickly became a cultural home for diversity, creativity and inclusion. Past performers include Caroline O’Connor, Vika & Linda Bull, Lior, Deborah Conway, Meow Meow, Carlotta, Tom Burlinson, Mama Alto, Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse, the late Rick Steele and many more.
"From the glorious sounds of Vika & Linda Bull, the magnificent storytelling of Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse and the antics of the imcomparable Paul Capsis and a diverse selection of the nation’s finest cabaret artists," Ali continues, "we have appreciated our audiences being with us every step of the way as we joined together to experience the magic of what cabaret has to offer."
“We are incredibly proud of what PICF stood for— diversity, excellence, and joy. We thank our artists, staff, volunteers, partners, funders, supporters and most importantly, our audiences,” PICF Chair John Poulsen says. “This Cabaret Festival belonged to Perth and Western Australia and it deserved to thrive.” – Chair John Poulsen
