Brisbane Festival is Brisbane’s biggest cultural event, and in 2023 the event promises 23 days of music, theatre, and art performances across the city’s arts and cultural venues and iconic landmarks. The blockbuster program includes over 1,000 performances, ranging from world-premiere theatre and dance, family fun, and community gatherings to late-night cabaret and live music.

The festival makes September a perfect month for visitors from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines to discover Brisbane’s cultural scene – there’s everything from live music to captivating light shows set amongst beautiful gardens, to quirky theatrical performances and international circus artists.

Brisbane Festival 2023 is a mix of free and ticketed events. The event program and ticketing information can be found at www.brisbanefestival.com.au/whats-on/2023. Take a glance at the variety of fun-filled experiences on offer, and you’ll know why you must go see for yourself.

September skies light up!

2 September

At Brisbane River and surrounds

One of the most anticipated events of the year, Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust returns to mark the opening weekend of Brisbane Festival 2023 with an unforgettable night of community celebrations and vibrant lights that paint Brisbane's skies. Experience Foti Fireworks’ stunning pyrotechnic spectacle

Free Entry. Time: Entertainment from 4pm / Fireworks from 7pm.

400 drones take to the sky to light up a 65,000-year-old story

2-3 September

At Australian Retirement Trust Festival Garden

An opening of BrisFest like no other, this new three-dimensional multicolor drone show kicks us off with a bright and bold celebration of the city, highlighting Brisbane’s Neville Bonner Bridge and Queen’s Wharf animating the Dreamtime Yuggera and Toorabul story of Nieergoo: Spirit of the Whale. Journey through Meanjin Brisbane’s 65,000-year-old past as this creation story of the Islands in Moreton Bay is brought to life with stunning visuals and an original score by Guy Webster.

Free Entry. Time: 2 September at 7.45pm and 9.15pm / 3 September at 7.15pm, 8.15pm and 9.15pm. Duration: 12 minutes.

The ultimate romcom movie mixtape!

1-10 September 2023 (No shows on 2 and 4 September)

At South Bank Piazza

Dripping in nostalgia, 90s fashion, and confetti pops and climaxing every night in an audience-voted wedding extravaganza, this romcom movie mixtape is the perfect Brisbane Festival spring fling. From local hit-makers, The Little Red Company comes this irresistible homage to romantic comedy soundtracks, brought to life by a dream cast of Australian theatre sweethearts including Marcus Corowa, Irena Lysiuk, Luke Kennedy, and Naomi Price. 

Fall in love all over again with the world’s most enduring romcom soundtracks including Notting Hill, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Bridesmaids, When Harry Met Sally, 10 Things I Hate About You, Pretty Woman, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and more.

Price $40-50. Time: 1 September at 7pm / 3, 5-7 and 10 September at 6pm / 8-9 September at 6.30pm. Duration: 80 minutes (No interval). Book There’s Something About Music Ticket.

From screens to streets, let nostalgia take hold and hit your high score on beloved arcade classics!

1-23 September 2023

At King St, Bowen Hills, QLD

Esc. With Us is an ode to retro-game play – a time when video games were played standing up – together. We are bringing nostalgia out of our screens, out of arcade darkness, and into the streets. A glowing collection of puffy gaming consoles, made from inflatables in 80s-colored graphics inspired by Tang, Fanta, and Lifesavers, call to mind the fun palace of old-school arcade parlors – places where you met your crush, made new friends to give friendship bracelets to, ate pizza and scored big.

Free Entry. Time: 1 September 4pm-10pm / 2-23 September 10am-10pm. 80s Street Party: 16 September at 5pm – 9pm.

Bringing together DIY (do-it-yourself) aesthetics with a DIT (do-it-together) ethos

1-23 September

At Metro Arts

Commissioned for the Brisbane Festival and Metro Arts, this visionary body of work explores future living patterns, underscoring the interconnectedness of all living things. Engage, contemplate, and discover an expansive interconnected future with Patterns for Future Living, a dynamic DIY exhibition that stirs collective action for environmental and ecological justice. Inspired by modernist artist Sonia Delaunay Terk, this space fosters meditation and care through an immersive installation of rhythmic color, pattern, and sound.

Free Entry. Time: 1 September 10am-4pm / 2 September 12noon-6pm / 3-24 September, Monday-Tuesday 10am-4pm, Wednesday-Friday 10am-9pm, Saturday 12noon-9pm, Closed on Sunday.

How the WORST rock band becomes the BEST kids' band!

16 September – 1 October (No shows on 17, 24-25 September)

At Playhouse, QPAC

BANANALAND is a celebration of the glorious absurdity of following an impossible dream, featuring a knockout score by Kate Miller-Heidke and her collaborator Keir Nuttall - the award-winning songwriting team behind Muriel’s Wedding the Musical and multiple platinum-selling albums. It is directed by industry giant Simon Phillips, internationally renowned for his work on large-scale musicals including Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Ladies in Black, and famed for his stunning visual style and innovative staging.

Price $69-$99 + booking fee. Time: Varies. Click Book BANANALAND Ticket to see show times. Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes (includes interval, subject to change without notice).

The global hit finally lights up Brisbane!

Now until 8 October (no viewings on 22 September, 28 September and 7 October)

At Botanic Gardens

Following extraordinary success in the UK and US, the internationally acclaimed, multi-sensory immersive experience Lightscape comes to Brisbane’s City Botanic Gardens. This uniquely created immersive experience takes you on a journey of the senses through light, color, and sounds, showcasing the gardens as never seen before. 

Journey beneath glowing tree canopies filled with color. Stroll alongside larger-than-life flowers and neon roots bursting from the undergrowth and amble through sparkling tunnels of light or under giant poppies suspended high in the night sky. These breathtaking light works follow a two-kilometer path to create an after-dark oasis of botanical brilliance.

Price $28 - $55 + booking fee. Time: 5.45pm. Duration: 90 minutes.

Book Lightscape Brisbane Ticket

It’s uncomplicated. It’s powerful. It’s kazoo-tiful!

23 September

At Victoria Park / Barrambin

Take a deep breath, join as one, and release an almighty chorus of kazoos! Come and join the world’s biggest, kazaniest orchestra ever – 10,000 kazoos-strong. Have no musical ability or training? No problem. Simply stick a kazoo in your mouth, with the pointy end at the world, and send some do-do-dos down that tube!

Free Entry. Time: 5.10pm. Duration: 20 minutes.

Have the time of your life at the upcoming Fun Feels Festivals in Brisbane with easy air access and various flights available from Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines!

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