Bring the yoga mat, this arts festival salutes the sun
Liz Hobday |
The Queensland capital is a city of early risers, and its 2026 arts festival brings a program that starts from dawn.
Brisbane Festival artistic director Ebony Bott’s inaugural program features 160 productions across three weeks in September, of which almost 120 events will be free to attend.
“The beautiful thing about different festivals in each city across Australia is that they need to respond to the rhythm of the city they’re in,” Bott said.
The program begins each day as the sun rises, with attractions such as yoga and early morning DJ sets from New York’s DAYBREAKER movement.
The festival is also re-establishing its former hub at South Bank with a temporary village in the riverside forecourt, designed as a nod to the 2032 Olympic Village.
The zone will feature ticketed shows as well as participatory circus and dance, and a Giant Sing Along from Montreal studio Daily tous les jours.
A sound system and microphone array will be installed for a series of mass choir events – which will no doubt sound very different first thing in the morning, and late at night.
The RAAF flyover and Riverfire fireworks display are back on the opening weekend, with fireworks launched from bridges and rooftops.
The 2026 program also features a nightly show of lasers, floating fountains and water jets that reach 80 metres into the sky, set to original music by Brisbane outfits The Veronicas and The Jungle Giants.
Ticketed fare includes the world premiere of playwright Suzie Miller’s Strong is The New Pretty, the story of the creation of AFLW.
Fresh from its New York premiere run, Luke Murphy’s Attic Projects returns to Brisbane with Scorched Earth, a dance and theatre performance that’s also a cold case murder investigation and interrogation of land rights.
From renowned Gold Coast company The Farm, there’s the premiere of No One Gets Out of Here Alive – billed as a dance performance for all those who will die.
“There is a moment where the Grim Reaper is dancing with everybody to a Stevie Wonder track … for me that means have fun while you’re here, life is a party,” Bott said.
More than 50 of the state’s arts organisations will take part in the festival, which attracted an audience of more than two million people in 2025.
The event would deliver a $27 million economic boost for Queensland, said Tourism Minister Andrew Powell.
The festival runs from September 4 to 26, with tickets on sale from Tuesday.
AAP