WA Day: A giant octopus, 500 drones, AND Eskimo Joe

Tens of thousands of Western Australians are expected to descend on Burswood Park on Monday for the annual WA Day celebrations.

Attendees will be treated to a range of amusement rides, a silent disco in a 24m inflatable octopus, and swathe of live music from local acts headlined by Birds of Tokyo and Eskimo Joe.

The WA Day Festival, hosted by Celebrate WA, will also feature a 500-drone light show in the evening which will paint the sky in images showcasing the State.

More than $1 million worth of drones will be used, with an extra 200 added to the fleet since the light show over Elizabeth Quay earlier this year to commemorate US astronaut John Glenn.

Celebrate WA chief executive Fiona Kalaf said it was great to have the WA Day event return without COVID restrictions.

“It’s really exciting for WA to be able to truly celebrate this long weekend, we’ve been through a lot over the last few years,” she said.

“We’ve got a bigger footprint down here at Burswood Park, so for people who came last year, this year is bigger and even better than last year.”

It was expected around 100,000 people would head to the festival and drone show throughout the day.

The festival will also exhibit an audio-visual display titled Whadjuk Dreaming that presents the stories of the traditional land owners, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation.

“Western Australia is home to one of the longest living Indigenous cultures in the world, [Whadjuk Dreaming showcases] the way Indigenous people have been able to share stories with community,” Ms Kalaf said.

She said the festival was also a big boost for the State’s ravaged events industry, which faced major hardships amid COVID lockdowns and restrictions over the past two years.