11 years of The Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent

The Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent has seen thousands of Perthians walk through its doors since the Festival’s inception in 2011, and it’s all thanks to FRINGE WORLD’s Principal Supporter, Lotterywest.  

Built in Belgium in 1905, the Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent remains one of our most beloved and alluring show venues, and is adorned with beautiful ornate details, from its stained-glass panels to the rich velvet curtains. 

Packed with old-world charm, the traditional Belgian Spiegeltent - which, from Dutch, translates to ‘Mirror Tent’- was originally owned and used by the Klessens family, who toured their Spiegeltents across five generations.  

Before being purchased for Perth’s first FRINGE WORLD Festival thanks to a Lotterywest grant of $400,000, the ‘De Parel Van Vuren’, or ‘The Pearl Of Fire’ as it was once known, was used as a travelling dance hall, bar and entertainment salon on its journeys.  

While The Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent no longer travels across Belgium and the rest of Europe, the iconic Spiegeltent has travelled over one thousand kilometres across our sunny state, bringing Fringe as far as Karratha.  

Being one Spiegeltent of only a handful in the world, The Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent has become a mainstay/centrepiece venue for our continuously evolving and growing Festival and has been a vital part of our journey to becoming the third largest Fringe Festival in the world.  

This FRINGE WORLD season, you can experience the mystical and mysterious magic kept within the walls of this 116-year-old venue.

Thank you to Lotterywest for your continued and vital support of FRINGE WORLD!

Photo by Johannes Reinhart