Switch On, Light Up, Come Alive: Brisbane Festival Announces Its Biggest Program Yet

Brisbane Festival has just dropped its 2026 program, and it's the first full statement from new Artistic Director Ebony Bott — a genuinely ambitious one, running the length of the day and the breadth of the city from September 4 to 26.

The numbers alone tell you this isn't a quiet debut: 700 performances, over 2,000 artists and arts workers, and a program that Bott says is "tuned to the frequency of this city — from first light through to after dark." That's not just a tagline. Brisbane Festival is now the only major arts festival in the country running events from sunrise ceremonies and morning yoga through to late-night performances and riverside drinks under the stars.

At the centre of it all is the new Festival Village at South Bank — a full riverside takeover of the Cultural Forecourt, deliberately styled as a nod to the Athletes' Village ahead of Brisbane 2032. It's where the festival will live and breathe for three weeks straight, anchored by the long-awaited return of the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, which transforms into a working bar each night as the home of West End hit The Choir of Man.

The big one: Riverfire returns Saturday 5 September

Opening weekend means Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust is back — bridges, barges and rooftops lit up in a city-wide fireworks display, preceded by a RAAF flyover. If you've caught it before, you know exactly why it's the moment Brisbane turns its whole face toward the river.

On stage: a genuine world premiere

The theatre highlight of the festival is the world premiere of Strong is the New Pretty, a new work from acclaimed playwright Suzie Miller — the writer behind Prima Facie and RBG: Of Many, One — telling the untold story of how the AFLW was born, from a 2010 recommendation to the seven-year fight that made it real. It's a co-production between Brisbane Festival, Sydney Theatre Company and Trish Wadley Productions, staged at QPAC.

Elsewhere on the program: LA company DIAVOLO brings the physically explosive ESCAPE to Brisbane; Luke Murphy's Scorched Earth, fresh off a celebrated New York premiere at St. Ann's Warehouse, digs into a reopened twelve-year-old murder case and the darkest corners of the Irish psyche; and New York puppetry company Wakka Wakka — dubbed "possible geniuses" by The New York Times — bring their underworld musical odyssey Dead as Dodo.

After dark: the river as the stage

Each evening, Bright Nights by ANZ turns the Brisbane River itself into the show — floating fountains, waterscreens and lasers soaring up to 80 metres, set to an exclusive soundtrack from The Veronicas, opening nightly with a Welcome to Country from Traditional Owner Yuggera and Turrbal man Shannon Ruska. It's free, and it runs three times a night for the full three weeks.

Music, community, and everything in between

Roma Street Parkland's Night at the Parkland series returns with a genuinely stacked line-up — Aloe Blacc, Human Nature, Icehouse, the Temper Trap, PNAU, and Katie Noonan performing Jeff Buckley's Grace in full. RocKwiz rolls into town with a Brisbane-specific tribute spanning the Bee Gees to The Go-Betweens, hosted by Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis.

And true to the festival's civic roots, there's a full program built by and for the community — free outdoor concerts through Brisbane Serenades, the Moorooka Block Party marking five years, the Quandamooka Festival celebrating the living culture of Minjerribah, and the ever-beloved Common People Dance Eisteddfod bringing seven southeast Queensland dance crews to the floor.

Tickets are on sale now. With a program this size, the smart move is deciding early what you actually want to see — this isn't a festival you can wing on the night.

Brisbane Festival runs 4–26 September 2026 at venues across the city, anchored by the Festival Village at South Bank. Full program and tickets at brisbanefestival.com.au.