Events You Need to Know About This February
This month’s top events, plus a sneak peek at what’s on in March.
VICTORIA
St Kilda Festival
11 February | St Kilda Foreshore
Join 400,000 revellers at Australia’s largest free music festival.
Image: Nathan Doran
The Language of Ornament
Until 11 February | National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 
Charting the history of ornament, this collection of decorative arts includes pieces from Wedgwood and postmodernist Michael Graves.
Alone Experience
14-18 February | Melbourne
Straight from California, this hour-long immersive walk-through explores the human psyche, taking participants out of their comfort zone and into a world of daydreams and nightmares.
White Night
17 February | Melbourne
In its sixth year, White Night transforms Melbourne’s CBD for one evening with dusk-to-dawn art installations, lightshows, projections, music and exhibitions.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
16 February-22 April | Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne
Esther Hannaford and the cast head to Melbourne to perform King’s beloved hits, including It’s Too Late and So Far Away.
Image: Joan Marcus
Next Month: Murphy
16-26 March | Arts Centre Melbourne 
The Australian Ballet pays tribute to Graeme Murphy, the country’s premier choreographer, 50 years after he joined its corps de ballet. The performance will revive his reimagined Firebird and feature highlights from his career.
NEW SOUTH WALES
The Book of Mormon
From 28 February | Sydney Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont
After breaking records in Melbourne, the Tony Award-winning musical is on a mission to entertain audiences in Sydney.
Twilight at Taronga
2 February-17 March | Taronga Zoo, Mosman 
Witness the magic of Sydney Harbour at dusk while enjoying acts such as Neil and Liam Finn, James Morrison and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Image: Maclay Heriot
Carmen
10 February-23 March | Sydney Opera House 
Mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham takes the title role, joined by Argentine tenor Marcelo Puente as Don José, in this lavish production.
Tropfest
17 February | Parramatta Park
Enjoy free entertainment under a blanket of stars at Australia’s biggest short-film festival.
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
15 February-4 March | Various venues, Sydney 
Now in its 40th year, the festival celebrates gay pride with the inaugural Sissy Ball and family day out at Luna Park, plus the traffic-stopping annual parade. For more information, go to page 24.
Next Month: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
21 March-28 April | Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney
Hugo Weaving returns to the Sydney Theatre Company to play small-time gangster Ui in Bertolt Brecht’s anti-fascist political satire set in 1930s Chicago.
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters
Until 25 February | National Museum of Australia, Canberra
The standout in this exhibition about the Seven Sisters Dreaming is the Travelling Kungkarangkalpa Art Experience featuring immersive projections inside a digital dome.
Next Month Cartier: The Exhibition
30 March-22 July | National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 
Royal families are among those who’ve lent tiaras, jewellery and brooches to this exquisite exhibition of Cartier’s designs. Don’t miss Queen Elizabeth II’s halo tiara, which was worn by Kate Middleton at her wedding to Prince William, and Princess Grace of Monaco’s 10.48-carat diamond engagement ring.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Festival Adelaide Fringe
16 February-18 March | Various venues, Adelaide
Showcasing theatre, comedy and cabaret, Australia’s largest ticketed non-curated arts festival takes over the CBD for 31 days.
Kitty Flanagan
27 February-18 March | Royalty Theatre, Adelaide
The Australian comedian makes a stop in South Australia on her Smashing national tour.
Next Month: Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay
29 March-29 July | Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
More than 65 works by Monet, Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, Cézanne and others have travelled from Paris for this Adelaide-only exhibition.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Perth Festival
9 February-4 March | Various venues, Perth 
Australia’s oldest international arts festival brings performance, music and film to the city. The program includes White Spirit, a show direct from Syria’s Umayyad Mosque that features three of the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus.
City of Perth Opera in the Park: La Bohème
3 February | Supreme Court Gardens, Perth 
The City of Perth and West Australian Opera present Puccini’s work of love and heartbreak at this free one-night-only event.
Next Month: Bruno Mars
28-29 March | Perth Arena
Touring Australia with special guest Dua Lipa, the Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum-selling recording artist brings his 24K Magic World Tour to Perth.
QUEENSLAND
St Jerome’s Laneway Festival
10 February | Brisbane Showgrounds 
The line-up on this bumper day of music includes Father John Misty, Amy Shark and Mac DeMarco.
Robbie Williams
20 February | Brisbane Entertainment Centre
The 18-time Brit Awards winner plays a gig in Brisbane on his Heavy Entertainment Show Tour around Australia.
Aladdin
From 20 February | QPAC, Brisbane 
Join the pauper, the princess and the genie when the magic carpet glides into Brisbane before taking Agrabah to Perth in July.
Queen + Adam Lambert
24 February | Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Queen fans will be singing those questions when Brian May and Roger Taylor take to the stage with frontman Adam Lambert.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Imparja Cup and National Indigenous Cricket Championships
3-12 February | Various venues, Alice Springs 
Watch rising Indigenous cricket stars play in the Red Centre’s annual tournament.
Next Month: Our Land People Stories
9-10 March | Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs 
Bangarra Dance Theatre takes its touring triple bill to Alice Springs. One of the works, Nyapanyapa, is inspired by the paintings of Yirrkala artist Nyapanyapa Yunupingu.
Image: Edward Mulvihill
TASMANIA
Ben Folds
13-14 February | Theatre Royal, Hobart 
On this unique tour, the first half of the show is curated by musician Ben Folds and the second by members of the audience, who use paper planes to launch song requests onto the stage.
T20 International
7 February | Blundstone Arena, Bellerive 
The T20 tri-series moves south, with the Aussies facing England in the second of the tournament’s seven matches.
Symphony Under the Stars
17 and 24 February | Tolosa Park, Glenorchy, and City Park, Launceston 
This free open-air event sees the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra perform under Swiss-Australian conductor Elena Schwarz.
Next month: Jimmy Barnes Working Class Man
24 March | Wrest Point Entertainment Centre, Hobart
A follow-up to his 2016 stage show, Working Class Boy, Barnesy’s night of stories and songs picks up where the last tour ended: heading out on the road with Cold Chisel in 1974. 
Top image: St Kilda Festival/Nathan Doran
SEE ALSO: The Best Walks Around Australia
