The Perth Festival has just announced Highway to Hell as the finale of the 2020 festival.
This once-in-a-lifetime event will see Canning Highway transformed into the world’s longest stage as we celebrate the late, great AC/DC frontman Bon Scott.
On Sunday 1 March 2020 from 5 pm, the event will claim 10km of open highway for a special day of art, music and entertainment from Canning Highway to the Fremantle Traffic Bridge. Local and international acts will perform AC/DC songs from stages on the back of semi-trailers in a slow parade from Applecross to Fremantle, playing constantly and stopping at certain zones to perform to the assembled crowd.
People are invited to walk the route with the trucks or set up a picnic anywhere along the highway. There will be food trucks and stalls as well as roving performers on foot, weaving in and out of the crowd along the highway.
Bon Scott – Fremantle’s most famous son
For years, Bon walked this iconic southern stretch Of Canning Highway from the Leopold Hotel in Palmyra to Fremantle, and AC/DC lit up the Raffles Hotel with legendary gigs. Come down and celebrate the special connection that Bon had with Fremantle.
After moving from Scotland to Melbourne, the Scott family settled in Fremantle in 1956 when Bon was just 10 years old. He attended North Fremantle Primary School and started his career in music as a drummer in The Caledonian Scots Pipe Band of Fremantle. After leaving John Curtin Senior High school, Bon worked on a cray fishing boat out of Fremantle, as a local postman and held many other jobs in the Perth area. In 1966, Bon got serious about his music and played with various bands over the next decade before joining AC/DC in 1974. Over their six years together, providing a new a sound for the music scene, the band reached international fame as their popularity grew. The rock world was devastated in 1980 when Bon Scott died in London.
Bon Scott was laid to rest in his hometown, at the Fremantle Cemetery. This memorial at the cemetery has become a shrine to Bon and many AC/DC fans make the pilgrimage to visit his final resting place.
The Highway to Hell event commences at 5 pm so why not get in the spirit of things by visiting the Fremantle Cemetery or the Bon Scott statue at the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour designed by one of WA's finest sculptors, Greg James. Walk the streets of Bon's hometown while reflecting on your favourite AC/DC songs (we all know the words, don't we?) and remembering this Aussie rock legend.
There will be exhibitions, public talks and other activities in the lead-up to Highway to Hell. It will be a long weekend in Perth and the weather is sure to be sunny, so why not make a weekend of it? Come and stay and experience all that our beautiful port city has to offer before heading along to the Perth Festival's free finale. As the home of live music in WA, Fremantle's major music venues will be hosting special events and after-parties to celebrate all things AC/DC - check back in to see the updates on this page closer to the date.
Fremantle offers plenty of accommodation options ranging from boutique hotels, backpackers, studios and apartments and B&B's.
Highway to Hell is presented by Perth Festival in partnership with the City of Melville, City of Fremantle and Town of East Fremantle, and is supported by the State Government through Lotterywest and Tourism WA. The full Perth Festival program is out on 31 October 2019.