Albany residents are invited to Kaarla Wirren, a performance celebrating Menang history and the symbolism of fire in Noongar culture, a collaboration between young performers and Menang elders.

Albany’s Historic Whaling Station will play host to a one-night-only performance of Kaarla Wirren, translated in English to Fire Spirit, on Saturday evening as part of the city’s bicentenary calendar.

The original idea for a creative performance to honour the significance of fire to the Menang people belonged to elder Carol Pettersen.

With her guidance, Albany youth organisation Southern Edge Arts set to work putting together a performance to tell the story of the “fire spirit” and share a key story from Menang culture with a local audience in a new and engaging way.

“To us Menang peoples, campfires are held in belief as a living entity with a spiritual connection to culture,” Ms Pettersen said.

“It’s about a place where spiritual lore and cultural obligations are handed down.

”We grew up knowing that the elders were the keepers of fires and they had obligations to pass on inter-generational knowledge, and as children we were taught about the importance of fires in our daily lives and how to care for our fires.”

Southern Edge Arts associate director Rachael Colmer took on leadership of the project, and so began a months-long collaboration to create a special performance.

“Albany 2026 is a moment where we can collaborate to tell our stories and to bring those stories to the wider community through the art of movement, dance and sound,” Ms Colmer said.

“The young people I am working with are wanting to be part of that storytelling and they want to express their identity through this performance about fire and spirit. They are trying something that many have never done before.”

The performance incorporates leadership from Ms Pettersen and other Menang leaders along with dance, theatre, circus skills, fire artistry and ideas from young performers in Albany.

Rehearsals and workshops for the performance have been ongoing at Southern Edge Arts since March, bringing together a cast of performers aged between 12 and 27 years to learn new theatre and performance skills.

The workshops have been guided by experienced facilitators who specialise in a range of performance aspects, and SEA also took the workshops to high schools in Albany and Mt Barker to introduce the project to more young people.

Interested performers had the chance to audition to be part of the final cast, and after a cast was selected rehearsals for the major project began, with Ms Pettersen stepping in alongside SEA staff and visiting performers to shape the final product.

On Saturday night, gates will open for audience members at 5pm, ahead of a 6pm performance start.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a picnic and settle into the whaling station’s outdoor amphitheatre for a captivating performance under the stars, where fire artists will perform alongside a talented young cast of locally-grown performers.

The event is free, but tickets must be booked for entry. Tickets are available on the Southern Edge Arts website.