Australia Day in Perth is an outdoor day from start to finish, and the evening is where a big screen earns its place. Australia Day 2027 falls on Tuesday 26 January, with many taking the Monday to make a long weekend of it, so there is a genuine run of days to work with. Whether you are hosting the family in the backyard, rallying the street, or a residents' group is putting on a community night, a screen gives the evening a centrepiece, and it can carry the Perth Skyworks live if you are not down at the river. Here is how to do it.
Pick Your Scale
The Skyworks Relay
Not everyone wants to fight the crowds and the parking down at the river for the Perth Skyworks. The alternative: relay the live broadcast onto your own big screen at home or at the community event. The projector takes any HDMI feed, so the fireworks play out large in your backyard or on the oval while your own crowd watches in comfort, with a barbecue going and the kids safely on the grass. It is the best of the Skyworks without the two-hour exit afterwards. Run a film earlier in the evening, then switch to the live broadcast as it starts.
Aussie Film Picks
Timing the Day
Australia Day is a full-day event, so the screen is the evening act. Late January sunsets in Perth are around 7:15pm and the picture is crisp by about 7:50. Run the barbecue and the day's activities through the afternoon and golden hour, start a film around 7:50, and if you are relaying the Skyworks, switch to the live broadcast when it begins. Heat is the main consideration, a January afternoon can be well into the thirties, so keep the crowd shaded until the sun drops and keep cold water flowing.
Setting Up
Keep it relaxed: rugs and bean bags at $11 each, string lights, and the barbecue as the anchor. The Party Pack at $250 adds lighting and effects for a street or community party if you want more of an event feel. As always, keep any haze low and off to the side so it drifts across the projector beam rather than fogging the lens.
Screen and Seating
For a family backyard of twenty to thirty, the 3m inflatable screen from $280 is right. A street party steps up to the 5m from $600, and a community event to the 5m or 8m for up to 1,200 people. Community screens come fully operated with a professional PA that carries clean sound across an oval. The full range is on the cinema hire page, and the screen size guide helps you match size to crowd.
The Licence Note
A private backyard party with invited guests needs no screening licence, your own streaming account is fine, and relaying a live broadcast like the Skyworks is fine too. But a community or council event that is promoted or open to the public generally needs a licence for any commercial film it screens. If your event is public-facing, factor that in, and see my licence guide or the council programme guide for how it works.
Booking Ahead
Australia Day is one of the marquee dates that books out early, because it is a single fixed date everyone wants. It sits just behind New Year's Eve and Christmas in how fast it goes. If an Australia Day screening is the plan, whether a backyard, a street party or a community night, lock the screen well ahead. Booking early costs nothing extra and it is the only way to guarantee the date.
Planning an Australia Day screening?
Tell me your suburb, your rough crowd size and whether you want the Skyworks relayed, and I will sort the right screen and an all-in price. It is a date that goes early, so sooner is better.
What Every Hire Includes
Whichever screen you choose, the price is all-inclusive: the screen, a matched projector, a professional PA, all cabling, delivery, setup and pack-down. The 3m goes up in about thirty minutes; the bigger community screens take longer and arrive fully operated.
What you supply
Bring only the space, a power point and your film on your own device. All the technical equipment is ours to supply, build and operate on the day. Parks and ovals far from power can use the silent battery inverter, so the film is the only sound. Use our screen size guide to match the screen to your Australia Day crowd.
What to Expect on the Day
We deliver, set up and test all the gear ahead of your event and pack away afterwards, so the evening runs itself. The 3m screen is set up in around half an hour for the day, and our crew fully runs the larger community screens.
What you supply, what we bring
Your part is the space, a power point and the film from your own device. Our delivery brings the screen, projector, professional PA and cabling, and we set it all up for your Australia Day. Bean bags or the Party Pack lift the evening, and the silent battery inverter helps where power is far from the seating.
How a Community Event Runs
We deliver, set up and operate the 5m or 8m screen ourselves for the whole event. That frees your volunteers to mind the crowd, the food stall or the fundraiser instead of the gear. We arrive early, check the PA right across the space, and pack away at the end.
What the venue needs
Flat ground for the screen and seating is needed, plus power, or we bring a silent battery inverter for parks and ovals. Any public or ticketed Australia Day event needs a screening licence as well, and we help you arrange it well ahead.
What to Expect on the Night
Before your guests arrive we deliver and test everything, then run the effects and pack down afterwards, leaving the party yours to enjoy. A 3m screen is up in about half an hour, and the Party Pack lighting and effects go up with it.
What you supply, what we bring
The space, the power point and the film from your own device are your side of the deal. We supply the screen, projector, professional PA, all cabling and any lighting or effects you have booked. When power sits far from the seating, a silent battery inverter means no generator noise under the music.
Frequently Asked Questions
Choosing the Right Outdoor Cinema Setup in Perth
Every Australia Day hire includes the screen, projector, professional PA, delivery, setup and pack-down. A backyard suits the 3m, up to around 300 suits the 5m, and the 8m reaches 1,200. Unsure which one fits? Our screen size guide walks you through the choice.
The cinema hire page lists the full range and pricing, and the contact page is where you share your space and crowd for a tailored quote.