Louise Bezzina’s sixth and final Brisbane Festival is looking like a spectacular way to go out on a high. Bezzina, the festival’s first female artistic director, has brought something special to the job and importantly steered it through COVID, emerging the other side as a much more inclusive event.
Bezzina’s blockbuster 2025 program invites audiences to experience the city anew — from towering whale bones on the river to a world-premiere dance trilogy and bridges reimagined as vibrant works of art. From September 5 to 27 the entire city will become a stage – and everyone’s invited.
Spanning 23 days, the expansive program brings together 2260 artists across 106 productions and 1069 performances, including 21 world premieres, reaffirming the festival’s place as a defining event on the national cultural calendar.
Significantly, more than 39 per cent of the program will be offered free to the public, reflecting an ongoing commitment to accessibility and bringing world-class art and performance to every corner of the city.
‘This year’s program is a love letter to Brisbane – bold, joyful and created with and for the city’
Bezzina’s creative vision has redefined what a contemporary arts festival can be. Her final program is a powerful reflection of her tenure: rich in international collaborations, anchored by Indigenous and culturally diverse voices, fuelled by community participation and bursting with homegrown talent.
“This year’s program is a love letter to Brisbane – bold, joyful and created with and for the city,” Bezzina says. “My final festival is a celebration of everything Brisbane Festival has become: a world-class event with a fiercely local heart. From world premieres to deeply resonant community works, this year’s program is ambitious in scale and grounded in storytelling, deeply connected to the people and places that make this city so special. As the city comes alive this September, I welcome everyone to take their place in the story.”
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Among the highlights is a major new commission from Brisbane’s Craig & Karl, the globally renowned art and design visionaries who return to their home with their largest and most ambitious project to date. For ANZ’s Walk This Way by Craig & Karl (pictured, above) the duo will transform three of Brisbane’s most prominent pedestrian bridges – the Neville Bonner Bridge, the Goodwill Bridge and the new Kangaroo Point Bridge – into vibrant, large-scale artistic interventions.
A citywide public art trail will extend the experience across iconic sites, inviting audiences to cross the bridges, follow the trail and see Brisbane through an artist’s eyes. Their homecoming continues with Craig & Karl: Double Vision, a dynamic exhibition presented in partnership with Griffith University’s Art Museum, where the duo first met three decades ago. The exhibition celebrates their local roots, global influence and signature visual language.
And in a landmark Australian exclusive, internationally renowned choreographer Benjamin Millepied and L.A. Dance Project bring together a triptych of dance works for the first time in a world premiere staging at Brisbane Festival.
Commissioned by French luxury house Van Cleef & Arpels, Gems (pictured, above) unites some of the world’s foremost creative talents – including composer Philip Glass, artist Barbara Kruger and designer Alessandro Sartori – in a striking fusion of dance, music, visual art and fashion. The result is a performance as visually arresting as it is emotionally resonant.
On the water’s edge, Baleen Moondjan unfolds as a breathtaking contemporary ceremony from visionary Indigenous artist Stephen Page, founder of Bangarra Dance Theatre and one of Australia’s most influential cultural voices. Returning to his hometown, Page transforms Brisbane’s riverbank with a powerful large-scale performance staged on a floating barge beneath the night sky, where towering sculptural whale bones rise from the water. Drawing on his Ngugi, Nunukul and Moondjan ancestry, the work honours the deep, totemic connection between baleen whales and Country, blending music, movement and storytelling in a powerful expression of culture, memory and place.
Lighting up the city after dark with three extraordinary events, Brisbane Festival will transform the skyline and streets. Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust ignites the opening weekend with one of Australia’s most spectacular fireworks displays, launched from bridges, barges and rooftops.
Skylore returns with 400 drones telling the traditional story of Brisbane’s First Nations people. Meanwhile, Afterglow invites audiences on a mesmerising journey through a dreamscape of fire sculptures, candlelit artworks and performances as the City Botanic Gardens comes alive at night.
A world premiere of epic scale, Bad Nature is a visually bold exploration of our complex relationship with the natural world and each other. This international collaboration between Australasian Dance Collective and the Netherlands’ Club Guy & Roni brings together 12 powerhouse dancers and musicians from HIIIT, acclaimed designer Boris Acket and fashion provocateurs MAISON the FAUX, to push the boundaries of perception in a bold, multisensory experience.
A beloved Brisbane institution returns to the spotlight as the iconic Twelfth Night Theatre is reawakened for this year’s festival. Completely reimagined for the occasion, the venue will host Gatsby at the Green Light, a luminous night of cabaret, variety and contemporary music that follows a sold-out season at the Sydney Opera House.
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Laura Murphy’s The Lovers returns in an all-new production by Shake & Stir — a pop-fuelled reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Meanwhile, Back to Bilo (pictured, above) brings to the stage the powerful true story of a Sri Lankan refugee family and the extraordinary grassroots campaign that fought to return them to their home in Biloela, Queensland.
Elements of Freestyle is a high-adrenaline fusion of dance, theatre and extreme sports from the Netherlands’ trailblazing ISH Dance Collective. Featuring BMX, skateboarding, free-running, breakdance and more, this electrifying show transforms gravity-defying tricks into breathtaking choreography, celebrating movement in all its wild, powerful and poetic forms.
Fresh from the festival circuit, William Yang returns home to Queensland with Milestone, a poignant reflection on five decades of photography, social change and Australia’s bohemian art scene, accompanied by a live score composed by Elena Kats-Chernin.
And a bold new cabaret, AMPLIFIED: The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett (pictured, above), sees acclaimed performer Sheridan Harbridge channel the fearless spirit of the Divinyls’ frontwoman through raw storytelling and iconic songs.
Some of Brisbane Festival’s most loved and familiar faces also return, including Leah Shelton with her award-winning BATSHIT, a wildly theatrical and darkly comic exploration of female mental health; and Kate Miller-Heidke, who joins Camerata for Your Eternal Memories, a poignant concert inspired by real-life recollections of life’s most defining moments.
With inclusivity at the heart of Brisbane Festival, the program places public participation front and centre and among the offerings is the return of the Common People Dance Eisteddfod — the high-energy, sequin-studded suburban dance battle sweeping the country bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate movement, community and unfiltered expression on the dance floor. Set within Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, the powerhouse line-up features legendary hitmakers ICEHOUSE, indie-pop favourites Lime Cordiale with Jack River, roots troubadour Xavier Rudd, chart-topping local superstar Amy Shark, rock icons Grinspoon, electro pioneers Cut Copy with KLP, and rising country star James Johnston.
Brisbane Serenades returns, offering a vibrant series of free outdoor concerts that bring music to life in parks, gardens and neighbourhoods across the city. This joyful celebration of Brisbane’s rich cultural diversity weaves together traditional melodies and contemporary rhythms, spotlighting both homegrown talent and global influences. This year’s program includes Pasifika Made at Brisbane Powerhouse, Manly Serenades at George Clayton Park, Moorooka Block Party at Peggs Park, and St Lucia Serenades at the University of Queensland – each event a distinct reflection of the communities that call Brisbane home.
Minister for Arts John-Paul Langbroek says this year’s festival focus is on “funding free community-based events to make sure all Queenslanders have access to this spectacular program of bold, colourful and creative arts experiences”.
“Congratulations to Louise Bezzina and Charlie Cush, who have played a pivotal role in growing Queensland’s cultural reputation in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, ” Langbroek says.
Adds Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner: Brisbane Festival “is more than an arts event — it’s a celebration of our identity as Australia’s lifestyle capital”.
See the full program from 10am on June 11, subscribe for updates and purchase tickets: