Brisbane’s night-time economy has been left starving. We have seven years to change

Finding a meal after 9pm outside the weekend peak in Brisbane is not an easy feat – even during events designed to support later trading.

Take a recent(ish) experience at the Powerhouse.

I went to see a show on Thursday night during Night Feast, a month-long food pop-up that runs alongside MELT Festival. I ran out of time to eat before the show, but I had trusted, given the event, there would be an opportunity afterwards.

Night Feast – one of Brisbane’s best food activations in recent years – runs alongside MELT Festival. Was I naive to think that would guarantee later mid-week trading?

Imagine my disappointment when I found all the vendors closed or closing at 9.30pm.

As an ex-hospitality worker, I understand why they closed – there probably wasn’t enough trade to stay open. Fair enough.

And to be honest, Brisbane isn’t renowned for its reliable late-night dining scene, something we’ve all come to accept.

But unconventional eating hours have become a central part of wider efforts to grow and diversify the city’s night-time economy.

Later dining reflects a broader cultural scope. When people refer to cities with 24-hour economies, they often point to countries where eating and socialising at restaurants happens all through the night, without being tied to a drinking culture. That’s another reason food has become so important: it doesn’t rely on alcohol consumption, something we are being reminded is declining.

Hassell’s managing principal Lucy O’Driscoll helped bring together creatives and thought leaders from across the arts and culture space for a discussion about Brisbane’s cultural legacy. Credit: Ben Sullivan

Late dining options also support growth in other areas of the night-time economy, such as arts and culture.

As my Night Feast fiasco demonstrated, you might have a great excuse to see a show on a Thursday night, but it can be disappointing if there’s nowhere to eat or go (that isn’t a kebab or pizza shop on Brunswick Street) afterwards.

Not long after that night at the Powerhouse, I attended a symposium that brought together creatives from around Australia to pose questions in the context of Brisbane elevating itself as a cultural destination in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was hosted by the Brisbane arm of international design studio Hassell to kick-start conversations around our cultural legacy – not just our performance during the weeks of hosting the Games.

“Brisbane residents are hungry for a city that fully celebrates and supports the arts,” they wrote in a list of recommendations after the symposium. “We have the audience, the talent and the climate. Now, we just need a bolder approach to bring culture to the forefront of city life.”

One of the symposium’s recommendations was to schedule performances for 10pm. “If we really want to amplify a night-time economy in Brisbane, let’s stretch our perception of time and schedule some performances for 10pm.

“A robust night-time culture would create a cascade of benefits, supporting local businesses, energising empty streets, and turning public spaces into lively hubs.”

If you’re going to see a show at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in South Brisbane at 10pm, it’s reasonable to expect a meal after midnight. Who should absorb the risk?

Hassell managing principal Lucy O’Driscoll, one of the symposium’s key organisers, says Brisbane should start small and local.

“You’ve got to break it down into sizeable pieces that then give you a test or pilot study for people to start understanding how to interact,” she says.

“[I remember] going to London as a 13-year-old and seeing Cats then having dinner at midnight with my parents. It blew my mind because it was like, who knew you could do this? I love going to the Lyrebird restaurant [in QPAC] before the theatre, but sometimes I run out of time. Why can’t I have dinner after the theatre as well?”

She understands why it’s not straightforward but says it has to move beyond a “chicken or the egg” argument. “A lot of conversation during the symposium was around, are they not opening because the business is not coming or have we got nowhere to go because they’re not opening?

“It’s a bit of an experiment, but that’s the change-of-culture piece.”

I was recently helping a friend book a birthday dinner across the border. They only had one sitting available for the Saturday night at 9.30pm. “I think that’s too late?” she wrote, “or should we be Spanish for an evening?”

When I worked in Basque Country (an autonomous region of Spain) it wasn’t unusual to wander out for pintxos after 9pm in the summer. Nor was it unusual to get up before 7am. Siesta solves everything.

I love the thought of Brisbane pushing against cultural conformity limiting our growth as a city.

We’ve got seven years to experiment and develop big ideas, and it can start with something as simple as a few performances at 10pm.

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