Coogee Beach will host its annual Australia Day festival on Monday, January 26, from 8am to noon, offering free family-friendly entertainment including thong-throwing and watermelon-eating competitions.
The event will begin with a welcome to country, followed by a performance from the Bindjareb Middars Aboriginal dancers, who have showcased Bibbulmun culture from Western Australia's South West region for many years both locally and internationally.
Other entertainment includes the JRS Singers, the Monty Cotton Trio, and The Heaps Good Show, along with a mermaid meet-and-greet, WA Birds of Prey and West Oz wildlife encounters, circus workshops, and a splash zone with water slides.
The festival will be MC’d by Perth-based radio and TV presenter Alana McLean. Jimmy Murphy, co-founder of the Town Team Movement, has been appointed by Auspire (Australia Day Council WA) as the City of Cockburn’s Australia Day ambassador for 2026.
Murphy's Town Team Movement works with communities in areas such as Yangebup, South Lake, and Bibra Lake, as well as local governments, to establish activities like street festivals, working bees, community gardens, and food co-ops. There are now more than 100 Town teams across Australia and New Zealand. Murphy also co-founded Arts Impact WA, a philanthropic organisation that funds arts projects.
