FREMANTLE’S multicultural music legacy has earned national recognition, with World Music Café winning Cultural Project of the Year at the 2026 Australian Folk Music Awards.

Founder Jon Cope said the award recognised seven years of work showcasing Australia’s cultural diversity through music while providing employment, training and social connection for people from refugee and new migrant backgrounds.

“It’s significant that people are seeking this sort of work,” Mr Cope said.

World Music Café, run by Mr Cope’s Kaleidoscope agency, was established in 2019 and has showcased hundreds of musicians through concerts combining traditional and contemporary folk and world music, cross-cultural collaborations and global cuisine.

• World Music Cafe founder Jon Cope. Photo by Jon Green

Kulcha

Mr Cope said the project continued the work of Kulcha, the former Fremantle music venue, and a longer tradition of cultural programming dating back to the music centre established in 1983.

“There’s been a strong thread running through all of this about the value of acknowledging the diversity of contemporary Australia.”

The project’s social enterprise model is central to its work, with catering and event staff from refugee and new migrant backgrounds gaining employment and training while building connections in the community.

“By bringing people in and connecting them to the community, we’re helping ensure they’re not isolated,” Cope said.

He said the benefits extended beyond employment, with the project helping some participants with visas and citizenship.

Although the award recognises the project’s work over the past year, Mr Cope said it was also an acknowledgement of the longer journey behind it.

“We’ve had support from the Department of Foreign Affairs along the way, but we’ve had to jump across the lily pads of funding and manage to keep it going,” he said.

“This award is a moment to reflect on what we’ve achieved and to recognise that other people are acknowledging it.”

A regional tour to Karratha this year featured Worldslide Summit, an intercultural collaboration between Lucky Oceans and Praashekh Borkar.

Mr Cope said the project’s focus remained on bringing people together through music while creating practical opportunities for musicians and crew.

“It’s about celebrating Australia’s diverse culture, but it also has a genuine social enterprise component, where people earn money and receive training, and we’re doing something socially valuable,” he said.

World Music Café’s next concert is on Friday, November 20, at Mt Lawley Bowling Club, featuring Grace Barbé’s acoustic duo and Viper’s Dream, a new jazz manouche trio, with a global menu created by Tamara Rodriguez.

Tickets are available at worldmusiccafe.com.au.

by STEVE GRANT