Family holidays: What to see and do in Brisbane this summer
Most people tend to flock the sun-soaked shores of the Gold Coast for the ultimate family, summer holiday, but there’s a surprising city you should also add to your list.
It’s a widely accepted fact that once the Melbourne Cup has come and gone, Australia is officially in festive celebration mode until the end of January at least.
Nowhere is this truer than in Brisbane, where balmy nights and a sizzle reel of back-to-back events make it the perfect destination for family fun.
From arts events to city-wide celebrations, right now is the perfect time for a city staycation with the kids.
Book a hotel, jump on a river cat and let the dazzling jewel in Queensland’s cultural crown show off its shiny summer outfit.
Arts attack
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Brisbane has slowly been stockpiling cultural clout in recent years, building an arts reputation to rival its southern big sisters Sydney and Melbourne.
QAGOMA’s Asia-Pacific Triennial, now in its 11th chapter, will run from November 30 of this year to April 27, 2025, featuring 70 projects by over 200 artists, makers and thinkers from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific.
Far from a stuffy gallery experience, the Triennial is the perfect gateway art experience for kids, with no less than seven separate artist projects on offer for kids at the Children’s Art Centre, including Indian artist Rithika Merchant’ ‘earth-shaping’ interactive project, where kids can help create a new world by adding elements – such as beings, plants and celestial bodies – to a projected landscape.
In terms of theatre, this summer provides a chock-a-block program of family-focused stage events at QPAC, from Wicked, playing until November 24, to Round The Twist, a musical based on the iconic short stories of Paul Jennings, playing from November 12 to December 8.
Sono Lumo: Aussie Christmas like you’ve never seen it
Remember driving around the neighbourhood to spot all the houses decked out in Christmas lights as a kid? The newest festival on the block, Sono Lumo encapsulates that spirit then blows it up to epic proportions, with a 10-night light and sound extravaganza transforming the newly-completed Queens Wharf entertainment precinct in a wash of hypercolour festive magic.
Running from December 4 to 15 from sunset to 11pm (Wednesday to Sunday inclusive), the light and sound spectacle will run for eight minutes every hour, transforming The Star Grand Hotel and surroundings with projections bright enough to be visible across Brisbane.
Seasonal tunes will be given a modern makeover by Brisbane DJ and artist, Young Franco, while in-between the hourly spectacle, a range of musicians will take to the stage to keep vibes high. Hungry? A gaggle of festival food and beverage partners will be onsite to fill bellies (and glasses), with their take on classic festive food.
Eat, sleep, tennis, repeat
The dreamy, languid period between Christmas and New Year’s in Australia is prime family holiday heartland, best enjoyed to the soundtrack of thwacking tennis balls.
Melbourne may have the Australian Open, but the Brisbane International at the Queensland Tennis Centre will run from December 29, 2024 to January 5, 2025, marking a joyful start to the season and offering some of the best family-friendly sporting action of the year.
Last year’s event drew crowds of 100,000 across the program, making it the highest-attended tennis event in Queensland in the past decade - with this coming tournament promising to be even bigger.
Festival season
Reminiscing about your festival glory days but lamenting the fact that you’re now a responsible parent with kids? There might be a way to live on both sides of the coin.
90 minutes north of Brisbane in the stunning Sunshine Coast hinterland, Woodford Folk Festival blends a lineup of grown-up music with its crowd-pleasing Children’s Festival for six days leading up to New Years Day every year.
Running from December 27 to January 1, this year’s festival features music headliners like Baker Boy, Husky and Alex the Astronaut, as well as arts and crafts, meditation programs and ideas workshops.
Billed as ‘a festival within a festival,’ the Woodford Children’s Festival runs daily from “a secluded space set aside to inspire and entertain smaller Woodfordians”.
Entertainment, featuring puppet shows, crafts, children’s entertainers and games starts from 8am each day and runs until 5pm.
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