{"id":854852,"date":"2026-08-14T10:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/854852\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:22:22","slug":"revealed-huge-19-day-free-fan-festival-planned-to-take-over-perth-cbd-for-2027-mens-rugby-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/854852\/","title":{"rendered":"REVEALED: Huge 19-day free \u2018Fan Festival\u2019 planned to take over Perth CBD for 2027 Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">Get ready Perth! The Perth CBD could be hosting a free fan festival throughout the Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup next year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The festival would run for at least 19 days throughout the tournament and feature a stage and screen, food and beverages, music and entertainment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The news comes as City of Perth officers recommend the council approve spending $979,400 on Tourism WA\u2019s plans for the 2027 Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup, which will officially open in Perth on October 1, 2027.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f7102c3920dd0ef3d657c647dc4957ff2fc00c1f.jpg\" alt=\"The Rugby World Cup is set to begin on October 1, 2027.\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\"\/>Camera IconThe Rugby World Cup is set to begin on October 1, 2027. Credit: Tourism WA<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The spending aims to ensure visitors experience more than just the match at the stadium, with Tourism WA pitching the free Rugby World Cup Fan Festival at Supreme Court Gardens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The investment includes way-finding, banners, digital screens, lighting and fan ambassadors across locations including Perth Station, Perth Busport, Perth Underground and Elizabeth Quay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">Perth officers said the city\u2019s support would help \u201ctransform RWC2027 from a stadium-based event into a city-wide major event\u201d and with Tourism WA describing the festival as \u201cthe place to be, beyond the stadium\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/629914a29a747af0cb6cc2435042c3cc286d8d32.jpg\" alt=\"An artist\u2019s impression of the free fan festival proposed at the Supreme Court Gardens. \" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\"\/>Camera IconAn artist\u2019s impression of the free fan festival proposed at the Supreme Court Gardens.  Credit: Tourism WA<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The city would provide $384,400 in in-kind support and $595,000 in hard costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">This includes $196,000 worth of Supreme Court Gardens hire, $137,000 for turf management and $262,000 towards event services such as Wi-Fi, utilities, cleaning, security and first aid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">A further $40,000 would cover Forrest Place venue hire for a merchandise and ticketing superstore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">If approved, the city would also spend $196,000 on the hire and installation of banners, while $35,000 would be allocated to event signage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">Another $100,000 cash contribution is proposed for a \u201cLast Mile\u201d activation, designed to create a highly visible fan journey between public transport hubs and the Fan Festival.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The funds would come out of the city\u2019s major events activation reserve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The proposal also flags the potential creation of \u201cUnion Houses\u201d \u2014 dedicated fan hubs for visiting nations at local venues which would be alongside fan zones, hospitality experiences and other activities designed to increase visitor spending and time spent in the CBD.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">Tourism WA says the city would receive \u201cexclusive host city recognition\u201d, including access to an official \u201cPerth | Boorloo\u201d Host City mark for approved activations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">Tourism WA estimates the tournament will attract 250,000 international visitors, while nation-wide visitor expenditure is forecast to reach over $1 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The tournament is expected to generate significant international exposure, with the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France recording 3.1 billion digital and social media impressions and 1.33 billion viewing hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">Perth is expected to host up to six of the world\u2019s top 10-ranked teams, including New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9cqv6l-StyledPNParagraph e8utp6u0\">The council is scheduled to consider the proposal at its August 25 meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get ready Perth! The Perth CBD could be hosting a free fan festival throughout the Men\u2019s Rugby World&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,505,46,760,2633,15131,588,85,45],"class_list":["post-854852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-central","tag-perth","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-union","tag-rugby-world-cup","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}