This was published 5 months ago
Riverfire and other free shows to see at Brisbane Festival 2024
By Nick Dent
Prices for shows at Brisbane Festival are not exorbitant, but neither are they a steal. Tickets to flagship production Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show start at $89; Trent Dalton’s Love Stories at $79; and international sensation Volcano at $95. While we have no doubt they are worth every cent, not everyone is going to have the means to buy them.
But Brisbane Festival also has an extensive list of free shows spanning music, theatre, art and outdoor spectaculars. These feature astounding talent, from the organ player who worked with Hans Zimmer on the film Interstellar to top operatic soprano Katie Stenzel.
There’s also a huge amount of technical wizardry, in everything from drone shows and fireworks to space-age art installations.
Here’s our selection of 19 of the best. None of the events listed below requires tickets – you can just rock up.
Riverfire has been moved to the start of Brisbane Festival and launches the event with a literal bang.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
Riverfire
When: Sat, Aug 31; 4-8pm (fireworks 7.05pm)
Where: Brisbane CBD, river and surrounds
The biggest and loudest event in the festival also happens to be free. Riverfire is a display of fireworks erupting from bridges, barges and rooftops, as well as plane flyovers, and this year it has been moved to the start of the festival.
Skylore: The Rainbow Serpent
When: Sep 19-21; 7.15, 8.15 & 9.15pm
Where: Festival Garden, 186 Little Stanley Street, South Brisbane
Last year’s drone show was one of the unqualified successes of the festival and this year it’s a must-see. Get your best view at the Festival Garden (or Queen’s Wharf) to see 400 drones telling the First Nations creation story of the Rainbow Serpent. The show is 15 minutes long.
The Dream Weaver: Guardians of Grace
When: Aug 30-Sep 21; 10am-late
Where: Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm
An artist with Chinese and Aboriginal heritage, Grace Lillian Lee is known for her contemporary interpretation of traditional weaving practice. Having recently visited Jean Paul Gaultier in Paris and contributed a couture piece to the Fashion Freak Show, she is exhibiting eight “Shields and Armours” in a free exhibition in the Stores Studio at the Powerhouse.
ChronoHARP is a project by Amigo and Amigo staged in the Festival Garden.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
ChronoHARP
When: Aug 30-Sep 21; Tue-Thu 5-10pm, Fri-Sat 4pm-12am, Sun 4-10pm
Where: Festival Garden
A participatory light and music experience, the ChronoHARP will be set up in the Festival Garden for visitors to interact with. In this work by Sydney artists Amigo and Amigo, light will transform a white prism into a colourful spectacle.
Friday Feels at Portside Wharf
When: Aug 30, Sep 6, 13 & 20; 4-7pm
Where: Portside Wharf, 39 Hercules Street, Hamilton
The Troubador stage at riverside shopping village Portside Wharf is hosting a program of live music and circus for four Friday evenings during the festival. Come along for Country Night (Aug 30), Kids Night (Sep 6), Pop Night (Sep 13) or World Night (Sep 20).
Hip-hop duo Birdz & Fred Leone star in Meeanjin Songlines.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
Meeanjin Songlinez
When: Sunday, Sep 1; 3-7pm
Where: Festival Garden
This concert curated by Tribal Experiences celebrates Queensland’s First Nations artists. Hip-hop duo Birdz & Fred Leone are headlining, and there are performances by HAiZ, Dark Moods, Rochelle Pitt, H-Town and Edgar Conlon.
Big Sculpture
When: Sep 2-Oct 6, 9am-late
Where: Brisbane Powerhouse
Wander into the Fairfax Studio and Turbine Platform to see this touring exhibition of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair that features large-scale commissioned works using modern and repurposed materials. Contemporary First Nations artists represented include Brian Robinson, Shirley Macnamara, Mavis Benjamin, Toby Cedar, Dr David Jones and Alma Norman.
Lord Mayor’s City Hall Concerts: Continuum
When: Tuesday, Sep 3; 12pm
Where: Brisbane City Hall
Continuum is a jazz ensemble from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, drawing inspiration from the philosophy of “hard bop” legends Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. This free concert in the splendour of City Hall is bound to shake out the lunchtime cobwebs for aficionados.
Seam Together
When: Sep 6-8, 13-15 & 19-20; 4.20, 5.30, 6.40 & 7.50pm
Where: Festival Garden
“Polly” and “Esther” (geddit?) travel the world gathering clothing and stories. Their show sparks ideas on how to transform garments or repair them to give them new life. Fusing comic performance, audio stories and audience participation, this hands-on experience for all ages promotes sustainability.
Bustamento are Moorooka Block Party mainstays, returning to Peggs Park on September 7.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
Moorooka Block Party
When: Saturday, Sep 7; 4-8pm
Where: Peggs Park, 160 Vendale Avenue, Moorooka
Back for its third year, Moorooka Block Party is an open-air concert of First Nations and world music featuring Bustamento, Gugu Yalanji songman Jungaji, and spicy Lebanese drumming from Sahra Entertainment. The Queensland Belly Dance Academy will also give a demonstration.
Voices of Victoria Park
When: Sunday, Sep 8; 3.45-7pm
Where: Spring Hill Common, Victoria Park, Spring Hill
A free afternoon of classical music will have performances by all-abilities choir the House of Soul Singers, marching band the Brisbane Excelsior Band, saxophone group the Crunchy Chickpea Salad Quartet, and Angel Strings quartet. Dynamic coloratura soprano Katie Stenzel, recently seen in Opera Queensland’s Dido and Aeneas, headlines along with Canticum Chamber Choir.
Lord Mayor’s City Hall Concerts: Interstellar with Roger Sayer
When: Tuesday, Sep 10; 12pm
Where: Brisbane City Hall
British organist Roger Sayer played the organ parts to Hans Zimmer’s score for the Christopher Nolan film Interstellar. In this concert, Sayer will play compositions by Zimmer and Holst on City Hall’s enormous Father Henry Willis Organ (built in 1892 and relocated to City Hall in 1928). He’ll also speak about his collaboration with Nolan.
One hundred people are taking part in dance installation Us and All of This. Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
Us and All of This
When: Sep 14-15, 4.15pm
Where: Brisbane Powerhouse
The forecourt of the Powerhouse will be witness to a “radical act of slowness”. One hundred diverse people will move together as one in a dance performance created by Liesel Zink with sound artist Lawrence English.
Technology, art and media coalesce at Cyber Palace where installation piece Flow is on display. Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
Flow
When: Sep 14-16, 6-9pm
Where: Cyber Palace, Level 1, 161 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley
Creative technologists Georgie Pinn and Tara Pattenden have made a mind-blowing interactive experience inviting the audience to drive an animation with their mood and gestures, exploring human emotion through the metaphor of water.
Singer-songwriter Jaguar Jonze is performing in St Lucia Serenades at the University of Queensland.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
St Lucia Serenades
When: Saturday, Sep 14; 2-5pm
Where: UQ Lakes Amphitheatre, University of Queensland, Sir Fred Schonell Drive, St Lucia
The University’s new lakeside amphitheatre is the scene of a concert headlined by Taiwanese-Australian singer-songwriter Jaguar Jonze plus talented First Nations vocalist Kristal West, and Cairns jazz artist and Yalanji woman of song Deline Briscoe.
Portside Serenades
When: Sunday, Sep 15; 4-7pm
Where: Portside Wharf
This concert at Portside Wharf is for lovers of improvised music and world rhythms. Melody Graves and the Hokum Redemption headline with their infectious brand of swing and Prohibition blues. New Orleans-style Dixieland is the go with the band Brunswick Street Parade, and the line-up is rounded out with Afro Beat Brazilian Drums and the SP Trio with Josh Linnett.
No-Waste Wardrobe promises a journey of discovery and empowerment towards a more conscious approach to fashion.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
No-Waste Wardrobe at Westfield Chermside
When: Sep 16-20, 10am-2pm
Where: Westfield Chermside
This fashion-themed program during the first week of school holidays includes an art installation by Claudia Williams and a free upcycling workshop where kids of all ages can create a bespoke piece of art from previously loved clothes.
Lord Mayor’s City Hall Concerts: Making Daybreak
When: Tuesday, Sep 17; 12pm
Where: Brisbane City Hall
French-born singer-songwriter Pauline Maudy will sing songs of human resilience alongside the Black Square String Quartet and special guest Robert Davidson. Brisbane-based Maudy was named Artist of the Year in the Australian Folk Music Awards Award for her contribution to folk music.
Pasifika Made features music, craft and food from the Pacific region.Credit: Courtesy Brisbane Festival
Pasifika Made
When: Saturday, Sep 21; 5-9pm
Where: Wally Tate Park, 1370 Beenleigh Road, Kuraby
A concert showcasing the voices of Polynesian, Melanesian, Micronesian, Maori and Indigenous artists, Pasifika Made will also feature an Island Marketplace selling handmade treasures and island food. Expect weaving and dancing workshops as well.
Brisbane Festival 2024 runs August 30-September 21.