Events
Jay Shetty Brings His Sold-Out Live Show Back to Australia, Landing in Brisbane This November
Phillipe Blake—17 September 2026·2 min read
Brisbane's inner-city voice since 2014
Brisbane's inner-city voice since 2014
A Shakespearean tragedy, a book-devouring circus clown, the return of Brisbane Writers Festival and an Armenian piano virtuoso headline October at Brisbane Powerhouse — alongside Melt Festival's own huge program.
Brisbane Powerhouse's October runs on two tracks. One is Melt Festival, already covered in full — the giant pink Rubber Duck, River Pride Parade, and the rest of its biggest-ever program. The other is everything else the venue has on this month, and it's just as worth knowing about.
Bell Shakespeare's Macbeth (Thu 1 – Sat 3 Oct) opens the month. Australia's national theatre company brings its staging of Shakespeare's tragedy of prophecy, betrayal and fate to the Powerhouse, with Anthony Taufa playing Macbeth's rise and fall.
Anthony Taufa in Bell Shakespeare's Macbeth. Photo: Supplied by Brisbane Powerhouse
Sharing that same opening weekend is The Librarian (Thu 1 – Sat 3 Oct), a family show for younger audiences. Paul-Émile Dumoulin plays an ordinary librarian who finds reality unravelling the moment he opens a book, blending clowning, physical theatre and circus into a celebration of reading.
Paul-Émile Dumoulin in The Librarian. Photo: Supplied by Brisbane Powerhouse
Brisbane Writers Festival (Thu 8 – Sun 11 Oct) returns for its usual spread of conversations, panels, salons and talks, covering literary fiction, crime, history, memoir and comedy across four days.
Brisbane Writers Festival 2026. Supplied by Brisbane Powerhouse
Later in the month, Tigran Hamasyan (Wed 21 Oct) brings his latest work, Manifeste, to Australia. The internationally acclaimed Armenian pianist and composer fuses jazz, progressive rock and the folkloric traditions of his homeland into a single performance.
Tigran Hamasyan. Photo: Supplied by Brisbane Powerhouse
Melt Festival then runs alongside and beyond this, from 21 October to 8 November — the Rubber Duck, River Pride Parade, Onesie World, Mr First Nation, Circa's new commission Show Me Love, and much more. Read our full coverage of Melt's 2026 program for everything in it.
Event details
Supplied by Brisbane Powerhouse
You Might Also Like
