BEAUFORT STREET FESTIVAL

On The Beat

The second annual Beaufort Street Festival comes to Beaufort Street this Saturday, November 12, with a variety of music, art, food and fashion. See beaufortstreetfestival.com.au to explore the full program.

Once the grubby counter culture star of Perth - alongside Fremantle - Mount Lawley has cleaned up its act of late to become one of the hottest real estate and retail precincts in Perth. But, despite its freshly paved sidewalks and slick new retail veneer, the suburb maintains its bohemian heart thanks to its stoically ‘alternative’ residents and thorn-in-the-side businesses that refuse to make way for the sterile corporate dollar.

Now in its second year, the Beaufort Street Festival makes a timely return this Saturday to remind us of all the things worth celebrating about the suburb - art, culture, music, fashion. Babycinos be damned!

A collaboration between the Beaufort Street Network and the Town Of Vincent - and now partnering for the first time with the Town Of Stirling - the inaugural festival was a resounding success; suitably ramshackle and eclectic to befit the street whose name it bares. The 2011 festival, however, takes a significant leap forwards in securing the closure of the street to traffic, between Walcott and Bulwer Streets.

“People can actually get on the street and reclaim the street,” festival director Dave Cutbush explains. “They can get involved in something that’s happening in a major artery, and can enjoy the surrounds and the music and everything else going down on the day in a car-free environment. This type of thing happens in major cities around the world and it’s great that it’s come to Perth, where a very busy street like Beaufort Street can be shut down for a day.”

With a varied program that traverses food and fashion, music and art, the festival will stretch nigh on a kilometre from Malt in the east to Luxe in the west, with local businesses exhibiting their wares amongst makeshift stalls, bars and performance hubs.

“It means a number of different things,” Cutbush concludes of Beaufort Street’s definition in WA’s cultural lexicon. “It’s obviously a home to independent thought and music. The four tenants of the festival are music, arts, food and fashion, which define the area. Having iconic music places like The [Flying] Scotsman and The Astor, and RTRFM and Planet, makes a big impact on what Beaufort Street means. It’s an artistic hub, with lots of great urban art - and lots of artists live in the area. We are trying to reflect an alternative culture and something that’s a bit quirky and interesting about Perth. We want to do something that’s in keeping with the demographic of the area and the nature of the area.”

_JULIAN TOMPKIN