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An outdoor water and light show is set to illuminate the Brisbane River at South Bank as a centrepiece event of Brisbane Festival this year.
The nightly presentation, titled Bright Nights, will transform the river into a “choreographed canvas” of water, with 80-metre high water jets, spirals and water screens with colourful lights and projected images.
Brisbane Festival artistic director Ebony Bott said the ten-minute display by Australian company Oracle Liquid would feature an audio story by traditional owner Shannon Ruska and a soundtrack by The Veronicas.
It will be performed three times a night off South Bank each night of the festival, September 4-26.
Bright Nights will be a highlight of the Festival Village, a free hub taking over the precinct on South Bank in front of QPAC.
The Festival Village will include the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, which returns to Brisbane after a six-year hiatus, and The Giant Sing Along, an interactive public karaoke machine inviting strangers to sing together.
Bott said the Festival Village was a nod to the Olympic Athletes Village.
“It was important to me to create a civic heart for the festival, because I do believe festivals need them to show the circus has come to town,” she said.
“If you get that right, then it removes some of those barriers to participation.”
Bott, who is from Western Australia, is presenting her first Brisbane Festival, having come from a programming role at the Sydney Opera House.
She said Brisbane had impressed her as an early-morning city, and this had inspired Festival Village events such as Daybreaker dance parties and morning meditation with music by Camerata and Queensland Conservatorium students.
“The festival this year goes from first light to after dark,” she said.
Major shows from overseas included an innovative physical performance from Los Angeles, Escape by Diavolo/Architecture in Motion.
True crime meets extreme theatricality in Scorched Earth from Irish company Attic Projects, in which a cold case murder is told through drama and dance. The production comes to Brisbane after a recent season in New York.
Several productions are New Zealand in origin. Bott said she was looking forward to Werewolf, a suspenseful one-hour interactive show based on the popular parlour game.
“Human beings have been told to get to their nearest safe house, and you are plunged into darkness, and you start to piece together what’s happening.
“I think it’ll be a really hot ticket in the festival.”
Night at the Parkland concerts will return to Roma Street Parkland with Aloe Blacc, Human Nature, Icehouse, the Temper Trap, Missy Higgins, PNAU, Katie Noonan performing Jeff Buckley’s 1994 album Grace, and the Cruel Sea with Magic Dirt.
Free concerts Moorooka Block Party, St Lucia Serenades and Pasifika Made will return along with City Hall concerts and other free events at the Festival Village.
The Riverfire fireworks will take place as usual at the beginning of the festival on Saturday, September 5, along with the RAAF flyover.
Bott said she was aware transport out of the city after Riverfire last year involved overcrowding and delays, and traffic management would be a priority.
“We love the idea that the Village will be there and we can keep people around a little bit longer to maybe stop that mass exodus,” she said.
Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell said Brisbane Festival was backing local businesses and delivering more than $27 million into the economy.
Brisbane Festival 2026: Hot tickets
Strong Is the New Pretty Sep 1-19
The new play by Australian playwright Suzie Miller (Prima Facie) tells the story of the creation of the women’s AFL league.
Koreaboo Sep 2-29
Star of The Newsreader Michelle Lim Davidson drew upon her real life experience to write and perform this play about a woman visiting her birth mother in Korea.
The Choir of Man Sep 3-26
This smash hit that played on London’s West End for five years has rousing renditions of hits by Queen, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Luther Vandross, Guns n’ Roses and Katy Perry.
Mama Does Derby Sep 3-6
A roller-skating comedy from Adelaide with a cast on wheels, Mama Does Derby features a live punk bank and an in-theatre roller rink.
Living Sculptures: How the Birds Got Their Colours Sep 5-9
A lively circus performance tells a First Nations story on the Village Green at the Festival Village.
Are You Lonesome Tonight Sep 8-12
It’s Parton meets Puccini in a country-and-opera shindig – Opera Queensland’s most successful regional tour ever, finally playing Brisbane.
No-One Here Gets Out Alive Sep 9-12
Bold and visceral dance company The Farm presents a cathartic performance on the dark subject of death.
Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of the Jim Henson Company Sep 12-Apr 18, 2027
Gallery of Modern Art curates a world-first exhibition of Muppets, Fraggles, gelflings, goblins and more, in association with the Jim Henson Company in Los Angeles.
Complete Bach Cycle Sep 13
Dr Calvin Bowman performs every single JS Bach organ work in a performance that will last 12 hours in the Concert Hall of QPAC and is free to attend.
Dead as a Dodo Sep 23-26
A skeleton boy and a skeleton dodo star in a puppet odyssey by NZ visual theatre company Wakka Wakka.
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Nick Dent is a Culture Reporter at Brisbane Times, covering arts, entertainment and things to do in the city.Connect via email.From our partners
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