Brisbane Festival 2025 opens
Brisbane Festival 2025 has officially opened, running until 27 September with 106 productions, 1,069 performances and 2,260 artists – including 21 world premieres.
The announcement:
Today marks the spectacular opening of Brisbane Festival 2025, launching 23 glorious days of performance, public art and participation across the city. Running until 27 September, the festival features 106 productions, 1,069 performances and 2,260 artists – with 21 world premieres and more than 43% of events free to the public, transforming the city into a stage.
“This year’s festival is a vibrant tribute to Brisbane – its energy, its creativity, and its people,” said Brisbane Festival Artistic Director Louise Bezzina. “As my final program, I wanted it to reflect the incredible journey we’ve shared: bold ideas, heartfelt stories, and unforgettable moments. From large-scale spectacles to intimate community experiences, every event is rooted in a love for this city. I invite everyone to join us this September and be part of something truly special.”
Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek said “Brisbane Festival delivers extraordinary, inclusive and engaging arts experiences featuring local artists and companies alongside national and international programming that drives economic outcomes for the State. The Crisafulli Government is proud to invest in Brisbane Festival which boosts the State’s reputation as a creative powerhouse and supports our Queensland’s Time to Shine arts strategy as we prepare for the global platform of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner added, “Brisbane Festival is more than just an arts event. It’s the jewel in our festival calendar that brings us all together, creates more to see and do in the suburbs and adds to our fantastic lifestyle. We are excited to welcome visitors into our hotels, restaurants, precincts and businesses as we shine the spotlight on Brisbane’s incredible arts industry.”
City spectacles: Art that transforms the urban landscape
From bridges to riverbanks, skylines to laneways, Brisbane Festival 2025 turns the city itself into a canvas, playground and stage. Audiences can expect to encounter awe-inspiring, free public artworks and site-specific spectacles that reimagine the urban environment through light, sound and storytelling.
Anchoring this transformation is ANZ’s Walk This Way, a city-wide takeover by internationally acclaimed visual duo Craig & Karl. Three of Brisbane’s major bridges, Neville Bonner, Goodwill and Kangaroo Point Bridge, are each wrapped in vibrant, large-scale designs that are bold, surreal and unmistakably joyful. The experience expands into the city streets with a self-guided Public Art Trail culminating in Craig & Karl: Double Vision, an exhibition at Griffith University Art Museum charting the artists’ global trajectory from local collaborators to international design icons.
The opening weekend ignites with the much-anticipated Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, a city-defining pyrotechnic tradition that lights up the sky with fireworks launched from bridges, barges and rooftops in a synchronised display of power and precision. For the first time in Queensland, heavy payload pyrotechnic drones will be deployed as part of the display, launching nearly 600 effects to create various thrilling formations.
A monumental outdoor ceremony set amongst giant floating whale bones on the Brisbane River, Baleen Moondjan stands as one of the most anticipated events of the festival. In his first major commission since leaving Bangarra, acclaimed creative visionary Stephen Page returns to his hometown to share a story of his grandmother’s Ngugi/Nunukul/Moondjan people of Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island). A celebration of totemic systems and whale songlines, this original work fuses contemporary dance, language, and storytelling with an all-star creative team including Jacob Nash and Alana Valentine.
Taking over the City Botanic Gardens is the evocative large-scale installation featuring thousands of candlelit sculptures, fire installations and glowing organic forms. Afterglow invites audiences into a dreamlike nocturnal world, combining art, nature and performance in a poetic journey through the senses.
Bookending the festival, and back by popular demand, is the beloved Skylore – Nieergoo: Spirit of the Whale, a First Nations-led drone spectacular developed with Tribe Group and Yuggera and Turrbal storytellers. Over 400 synchronised drones will create breathtaking aerial animations, in a luminous celebration of culture and Country over three nights.
Dance & movement: Physical poetry, provocation and power
Brisbane Festival 2025’s dance program is a richly textured exploration of the body as instrument, storyteller and political force, from the lyrical to the brazen, the classical to the deeply contemporary.
In a major international coup, Gems, a new trilogy by Benjamin Millepied and his renowned L.A. Dance Project, makes its world premiere in Brisbane with a genre-bending fusion of dance, design, and digital innovation. Millepied, known for his work on films Black Swan, Dune and as Director of Dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, delivers a striking fusion of dance, music, visual art and fashion across three powerful works.
Another world premiere of epic scale, Bad Nature is an unflinching and visually bold exploration of our complex relationship with the natural world and each other. This thrilling international collaboration between Australasian Dance Collective and the Netherlands’ Club Guy & Roni brings together twelve powerhouse dancers and musicians from HIIIT, acclaimed designer Boris Acket and fashion provocateurs MAISON the FAUX, to push the boundaries of perception in a bold, multisensory experience.
In Stephanie Lake’s The Chronicles, twelve of the country’s top contemporary dancers meet a masterful electro-acoustic score by Robin Fox, which blends driving rhythms with the stirring, ethereal sounds of a children’s choir (The Voices of Birralee) and singer Oliver Mann performing live on stage. Built from personal stories about birth and rebirth, the work unfolds in three movements that explore the cyclical nature of life and the marks we carry.
Elements of Freestyle, from Dutch physical theatre innovators ISH Dance Collective, explodes into the Brisbane Powerhouse with an adrenaline-fuelled mash-up of extreme sports, dance and sound. Featuring BMX, inline skating, skateboarding, free running and breakdance, the show is a jaw-dropping spectacle that defies categorisation – a love letter to urban expression and youth culture.
Theatre & cabaret: Voices of the moment, stories for the ages
The festival’s theatre and cabaret program boasts a stirring chorus of voices: political, playful, personal and poetic. These works hold a mirror to society, centre underrepresented perspectives and refuse to shy away from complexity.
Having captured the nation’s hearts with their fight to stay in Australia, Back to Bilo brings the true story of the Nadesalingam family from Biloela to the stage. This brand-new work, written by Katherine Lyall-Watson and directed by Caroline Dunphy, charts their removal, community resistance and the mass activism in regional Queensland that helped lead to their residency. This is the remarkable true account of one family’s ordeal and a story of how love and togetherness can win against crushing odds.
In a glorious revival of roaring grandeur, Brisbane’s beloved Twelfth Night Theatre is reawakened by Caper & Crow as a glittering jewel of the city’s cabaret scene, transformed into Gatsby at The Green Light – a seductive blend of music, glamour, and theatrical decadence. Under the visionary musical direction of Kim Moyes from The Presets, the soundscape pulses with the spirit of the Jazz Age reimagined for a modern audience, setting the stage for an unforgettable celebration of excess, elegance, and timeless allure.
Premiering at QPAC, The Lovers, written by Laura Murphy and produced by Shake & Stir Theatre Co., puts a glitter-pop twist on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Starring Natalie Abbott and Jason Arrow, this joyous reimagining brings together contemporary music, pop culture and theatrical mayhem in a celebration of queer love and youthful desire.
Belting out the tunes over at Brisbane Powerhouse is Sheridan Harbridge in AMPLIFIED: The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett, a sonic tribute to the late Divinyls frontwoman directed by Sarah Goodes. Raw, raunchy and rebellious, it’s part concert, part theatrical ritual, celebrating the fierce voice and fearless presence of a woman who kicked down the doors of Australian rock. Meanwhile, Francis Greenslade’s darkly comic The Platypus, fresh from a sold-out Adelaide Fringe season, delves into the absurdity and heartbreak of love undone.
Brisbane’s own Leah Shelton returns with BATSHIT, an award-winning, genre-defying performance that merges theatre, body art and feminist rage in a deeply personal exploration of inherited trauma and mental health. Pioneering artist and activist William Yang also returns home with Milestone, a poignant reflection on five decades of photography, social change and Australia’s bohemian art scene, accompanied by a mesmerising live score composed by Elena Kats-Chernin.
First Nations focus: Ceremony, Country & connection
Brisbane Festival proudly centres First Nations voices in a powerful program that honours Country, culture, and community. From large-scale ceremonial works to intimate storytelling and vibrant family experiences, this year’s First Nations program offers a rich tapestry of truth-telling, celebration, and connection.
Ahead of the magnificent spectacle, Baleen Moondjan, comes the world premiere of Preparing Ground, a deeply resonant dance work created over six years by leading First Nations Queensland choreographers Marilyn Miller, Jasmin Sheppard and Katina Olsen. Three women share the stage, carrying stories of displacement and reclamation in a performance that is both a call to action and an invitation to witness the living strength of Country.
First Nations (Bidjara/Kullali/Wakka Wakka) Italian artist and performer Joshua Taliani’s debut solo work Unveiling Shadows blends hip-hop, the artform of vogue and dance theatre in a fearless confrontation of silence and healing, while drag performer Miss Ellaneous (Ben Graetz) serves up a dazzling tribute to rock icon Tina Turner in TINA – A Tropical Love Story.
For younger audiences and families, Bangarra’s The Bogong’s Song: A Call to Country invites children into a dreamworld of shadow puppetry, dance, and song. Created by Yolande Brown and Chenoa Deemal, this enchanting new work explores connection to Country through the eyes of a brother and sister guided by their Nan’s stories.
Music & community: Bringing everyone together
Brisbane Festival’s celebration of music and community returns in full force, with 500+ free events across neighbourhoods and a large participatory program that turns everyday voices into a moving chorus.
Encompassing diverse genres and generations, Community Choir: The Musical invites non-professional singers to participate in a brand-new collaborative musical work. Blurring the line between choir and theatre, the project celebrates collective creativity and everyday voices made extraordinary. Common People Dance Eisteddfod, the high-energy, sequin-studded suburban dance battle sweeping the country, brings together people of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate movement, community and unfiltered expression on the dancefloor.
Mass participation also features in Beacons, where community choirs light up unexpected spaces via new choral compositions and light installations and 100 Guitars, which invites guitarists of all levels to build a sonic formation under expert guidance. Meanwhile, A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen welcomes audiences to a sensory feast, as theatre-maker and singer-songwriter Joshua Hinton cooks his grandmother’s chicken curry live on stage, blending rich aromas, personal storytelling and shared food in a warm, intimate event.
Returning for another blockbuster season, Tivoli in the Round transforms Brisbane’s most legendary live music venue into an immersive 360-degree arena, placing audiences nose-to-nose with their favourite artists, including Mallrat, Phantasic Ferniture, C.W. Stoneking, Franck and Odd Mob. Over at heritage gem The Princess Theatre, tastemakers of New York’s electronic scene Indo Warehouse will showcase their masterful control of the dance floor through their unique blend of organic percussion, South Asian cultural elements and club aesthetics.
Brisbane Serenades also returns in full flourish, offering a vibrant series of free outdoor concerts that bring music to life in parks, gardens and neighbourhoods across the city. This year’s program includes Pasifika Made at Brisbane Powerhouse, Manly Serenades at George Clayton Park, Moorooka Block Party at Peggs Park, and St Lucia Serenades at the University of Queensland, with each event serving as a distinct reflection of the communities that call Brisbane home. Meanwhile, the famed Lord Mayor’s City Hall Concerts present midday free performances across genres, from classical to folk, on Brisbane’s most iconic civic stage.
Festival club: The late-night heartbeat of the festival
As day turns to night, the Festival Club at QPAC’s Melbourne St Green becomes Brisbane Festival’s beating, after-dark heart. A celebration of live music, raucous cabaret, DJ sets, and late-night revelry, this is where audiences, artists and night owls collide.
This year’s electrifying lineup features queer art icons The Huxleys and Poly Lez Slut, whose surreal, glitter-soaked performances blur the lines between visual art, fashion and cabaret. Acrobatic provocateurs Grace Law and Stephanie Benson bring whip-cracking, jelly-wrestling spectacle to the stage, pushing physical theatre to its most daring extremes. Late-night thrills continue with trailblazing AFAB drag queens Ladybird and Henny Spaghetti, serving irreverent, high-camp brilliance into the early hours. On the decks, resident DJs include Richie LeStrange, the boundary-pushing GALLEON, and rising stars from local DJ school and queer collective QUIVR.
Brisbane Festival 2025 is a triumphant finale to Louise Bezzina’s seven-year tenure as Artistic Director; a groundbreaking program rooted in place, participation and possibility. With international and local artistry united, breathtaking spectacles bridging city and sky, and stories torching new paths of understanding, Brisbane Festival stands proud as a defining cultural moment for the city.
Brisbane Festival runs 5 – 27 September 2025. See the full program and purchase tickets at brisbanefestival.com.au/
Brisbane Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council.
Source: Common State
