25 things to do in Brisbane on the Easter long weekend
By Nick Dent
Four days of leisure in Brisbane stretch before you, and there’s only so much time you can spend eating chocolate eggs. We’ve compiled an up-to-the-minute list of the best things happening around town.
The long weekend offers a good opportunity to catch up on top exhibitions, must-see movies, concerts and live shows. Browse a local market, catch up over some street food, and keep the young ones entertained ahead of the new school term.
Friday, April 18
Redcliffe Easter Market.Credit: Goodwill Projects
Rather than shut down for Easter the weekly Sunday Redcliffe Markets are doubling down with a Good Friday event in addition to Easter Sunday. The markets on the Peninsula Walk will feature the Easter Bunny, an Easter Scavenger Hunt, Easter Craft for kids and lots of chocolate as well as 200 stalls and street food.
Redcliffe Parade, Redcliffe, April 18 & 20, 8am-2pm, free.
Sport: Dolphins v Storm
Under the tutelage of Kristian Woolf, the Dolphins continue their campaign for NRL glory with this round 7 clash against Melbourne’s finest.
Suncorp Stadium, 8pm kick-off, $28-$199.
Music: Byron Bay Bluesfest
OK, so not in Brisbane, but an Easter essential. Crowded House, Chaka Khan, Toto, Hilltop Hoods, Missy Higgins and Vance Joy headline Bluesfest this year, and the big-name acts don’t stop there. Come for the day, or camp for the weekend.
LOT 103/105 Pacific Hwy, Tyagarah, NSW, April 17-20, $65.10-$646.21.
Escape rooms: Project Immersive
With its abandoned power station vibes, the old Yeronga Paint Factory has a tonne of authentic atmosphere for its escape room challenges. Play Nuclear Enrichment, where you investigate an ominous power surge, or The Portal, with its extradimensional threat.
Area 1, 115 Hyde Rd, Yeronga, April 18-21, $49-$60pp.
Anne Lambert in Peter Weir’s film Picnic at Hanging Rock.Credit: Umbrella Entertainment
Movies: Picnic at Hanging Rock
Get ready to shout “Miranda!” as Peter Weir’s 1975 masterpiece of elegant Oz horror celebrates 50 years with this 4K Good Friday screening. Don’t miss the chance for a big-screen viewing of the movie that ushered in Australian cinema’s golden age.
Palace Barracks Cinema, Friday, April 18, 6pm, $13-$15.
Exhibitions: Titanic: The Human Story
This exceptional display of relics from the doomed ship is finally ending after nine months in the Queen Street Mall. See a life vest, shoes, pieces of hull, crockery, cutlery and items from Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, as well as recreations of cabins.
Level Q, Uptown, entry via Queen Street Mall, until Sunday, April 20, $39-$49.
Saturday, April 19
Bluey’s World Brisbane is designed to appeal to the show’s pre-school age viewers, but obsessed adult fans are welcome as well.Credit: Bluey's World Brisbane
Family: Easter Fun at Bluey’s World
The Bluey immersive experience is adding crafts, scavenger hunts and special Easter photo opportunities with Bluey and Bingo.
281 MacArthur Avenue, Hamilton. First session 9am, final session 4pm (closed Good Friday and Easter Monday).
Music: Club Angel
The new release from Club Angel, Soundbwoy’s Destiny, channels the raw essence of ’90s and ’00s rave culture. Hear his distinctive UK speed garage and jungle sounds on his 2025 tour, dropping into the Triffid on Easter Saturday.
The Triffid, Saturday, April 19, 8pm, $49.90.
Family: Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out
Before Bluey, there was Peppa – the classic UK animated series about a family of pigs and their misadventures. The live show is best for ages 2-6 years but no doubt will feature the same knowing winks to the parents as the TV show.
Brisbane Powerhouse, April 16-19. $44.90-$59.90.
Markets: West End Markets
The vast West End Markets spiral around the field of the Souths Leagues Club and take you on a journey through craft and gifts, fresh veg, knick-knacks and street food. Buy gifts, fruit and veg, vinyl, electronics, succulents and bonsai.
Davies Park, West End, Sat 6am-2pm, free.
Family: Mad Hatter Easter Bonnet Workshop and Parade
This workshop at HOTA on the Gold Coast invites kids to bring their own hat to decorate or to build a paper hat, then join in the parade. Afterwards, check out the Writers Revealed exhibition.
The Studio, HOTA Gallery, Sat 10.30am & 12.30pm, $20.
Mykhail Makarov is a contortionist and dancer appearing in Strut and Fret’s show Blanc de Blanc Encore at the West End Electric. Credit: B’rit Mobbs
Cabaret: Blanc de Blanc Encore
Pop some bubbles and get a ringside seat to acrobatics, contortion, striptease and more as the naughty cabaret sensation continues, in gorgeous and glamorous venue the West End Electric.
The West End Electric, 125 Boundary St, West End, April 19 8.30pm; April 20 5.30pm, from $45.50.
Sunday, April 20
Oui Oui High Tea at Bisou Bisou is a high tea incorporating St-Germain elderflower liqueur.Credit: Ghanem Group
Food & Drink: Oui Oui High Tea at Bisou Bisou
French bistro Bisou Bisou has collaborated with St-Germain elderflower liqueur on this new high tea experience with scones, finger sandwiches, profiteroles and other French-inspired delights, plus St-Germain cocktails served in a teapot.
458 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley, Sat-Sun with sessions from 11.30am, $49-$69pp.
Family: Cirque Alice
From the makers of The Illusionists comes a spectacle inspired by Lewis Carroll’s surreal Alice stories that stars aerialists, contortionists and acrobats.
Concert Hall, QPAC, April 10-22, $89-$199.
Museums: Precious at the Museum of Brisbane
Examples from Brisbane locals’ quirky private collections have gone into this unique and fascinating free show. See ancient windup toys, 1980s matchbooks, Melbourne Olympics trading cards and more. There’s also a special activity room for the kids, Micro Museum, where they can compile their own collections of objects.
Museum of Brisbane, City Hall, April 19-21 (closed Good Friday), free.
Markets: Global Food Markets Logan
Join a melting pot of Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian, Sudanese and Islander people selling fresh produce grown on properties and backyards across the Logan region, and try some excellent street food.
Woodridge Station & Croydon Road, Logan Central, every Sunday 6am-12pm, free.
Woodford Country Sunday Markets are operating on Easter Sunday.Credit: City of Moreton Bay
Markets: Woodford Country Sunday Markets
These markets take place in Binambi Place on the high street, offering community atmosphere where local artisans, farmers, and crafters showcase their talents.
109 Archer Street, Woodford, 7am-12pm, free.
Food & Drink: Easter Sunday at Eat Street Northshore
Eat Street is now under new management and is open Friday to Sunday as usual over Easter for street food and live entertainment. On Sunday, a Hot Cross Bun Eating Competition offers $1500 in prizes.
221D Macarthur Ave, Hamilton, Fri-Sat 4-10pm, Sun 4-9pm, $6 (kids under 13 free).
Monday, April 21
Rithika Merchant’s work ‘Silo 2023’ appears in the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at QAGOMA.Credit: Courtesy: The artist and TARQ, Mumbai / © Rithika Merchant
There is still time to see new work by 200 artists from 30 countries spanning painting, sculpture and installation. Nations across Asia and the Pacific are represented, including, for the first time, Saudi Arabia, Timor-Leste and Uzbekistan.
Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, 10am, until April 27, 5pm (closed Good Friday), free.
A picture with a hidden compartment taken from a prison, part of the Secrets: Objects of Intrigue exhibition at Queensland Museum Kurilpa.Credit: Queensland Museum
Museums: Secrets: Objects of Intrigue
This irresistible display has 80 objects with hidden compartments, personal stories of surveillance, spy gadgets, and covert weapons. See a Boggo Road tattoo machine, Joh’s suitcase, a prison camp radio and more. Also on at the museum is the ticketed Discovering Ancient Egypt.
Queensland Museum Kurilpa, Sat-Mon 10am-5pm, free (closed Good Friday).
Circus: Circus of Illusion
A family-friendly show of escapology, illusion and magic features illusionist and Australia’s Got Talent finalist Michael Boyd and Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Sascha Williams, with his balancing act extraordinaire.
Fortitude Music Hall, 2pm & 6.30pm, $59-$79.
Movies: Sinners
Michael B. Jordan stars in a tale of supernatural horror set in the Jim Crow-era south. The writer-director is Ryan (Black Panther) Coogler.
In cinemas from Thursday, April 18.
Family: Indro! Barn
Each 15-minute session lets kids explore four farm-themed stops, where they can complete hands-on tasks and learn about farming. After the activities, they’ll be rewarded with a farmer hat to decorate as a souvenir.
Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, 322 Moggill Rd, Indooroopilly, until April 21, 10am-2pm, free (bookings available).
Exhibitions: Writers Revealed: Treasures from the British Library and National Portrait Gallery, London
Letters from Tolkien, Jane Austen’s writing desk and the oldest-known portrait of Shakespeare find an unlikely home in Surfers Paradise with this world-first exhibition celebrating the grand literary traditions of the UK and Ireland.
HOTA (Home of the Arts), 135 Bundall Rd, Surfers Paradise, until August 3, Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 9am-4pm, $15-$27 (closed ANZAC Day).
Archerfield Wetlands District Park.Credit: Brisbane City Council
Family: Fancy playgrounds of Brisbane
Brisbane’s multimillion-dollar free public playgrounds are turning parks into destinations you’d cross the city for. The best include Bradbury Park, Kedron; Frew Park, Milton; Calamvale District Park; Hercules Street Park, Hamilton; and Archerfield Wetlands District Park, Durack. Bring a picnic and settle in while the kids tire themselves out on flying foxes, Sky Walks, tube slides, mouse wheels and much more.
Open 24 hours.