Have your onesies ready for this year’s Melt Festival. Brisbane’s biggest celebration of queer arts and culture has just unveiled its biggest-ever program that will transform the city with more than 100 events across 70 venues, from October 21 to November 8.
The city-wide program spans landmark public art, world premieres, headline concerts, river celebrations and new queer storytelling.
What has all that got to do with onesies? Well, this year Melt is inviting Brisbane locals to become part of the festival through Onesie World, a major participatory artwork by artist and fashion researcher Adele Varcoe and Queer First Nations artist Dylan Mooney.
More than an artwork to experience, Onesie World is an opportunity for people to come together, get involved and help create a shared moment of queer joy and connection.
Free community sewing workshops at Brisbane Powerhouse and the State Library of Queensland will invite participants to help make 1000 onesies featuring Mooney’s art. No sewing experience is needed.
Brisbane Powerhouse CEO and artistic director Louise Bezzina says: “Melt has always been about bringing people together through unforgettable shared experiences, and this year’s program does that on a scale we’ve never seen before.”
Now that Bezzina has settled into her role after six years at Brisbane Festival, she is turning her festival expertise to Melt. And the connections she has made along the way come in hand.
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Florentijn Hofman is an internationally renowned artist whose Brisbane Festival installation was called Messengers of Brisbane (2020; 2021). It featured six giant, colourful inflatable Gouldian Finches wearing party hats perched on iconic city landmarks such as Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane Powerhouse and Goodwill Bridge.
Bezzina has reconnected with Hofman and engaged him for this year’s Melt, so we’ll be seeing his giant pink duck floating down the Brisbane River in our biggest-ever River Pride Parade. It will be a treat.
Hofman’s 15m, five-storey Rubber Duck will be reimagined in Melt’s signature hot pink. This monumental artwork will first appear on the Brisbane River near the CBD ahead of the festival, before joining the River Pride Parade as one of its flagship floats. It will later take up residence near Brisbane Powerhouse for the duration of Melt. Having captivated audiences in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Osaka, São Paulo and Pittsburgh, it’s set to become one of the defining images of Melt 2026.
“River Pride Parade was one of Kate Gould’s initiatives and I’m thrilled to continue it,” Bezzina says. “I’m also thrilled to have a new commission from Brisbane’s own Circa. Artistic director Yaron Lifschitz and I have a long history of working together. They haven’t been here with a big show for 10 years, so it’s exciting to have them back.”
One of the festival’s defining artistic experiences will be the world premiere of Show Me Love, a new Brisbane Powerhouse commission from the city’s acclaimed contemporary circus company.
Created exclusively for Melt, this immersive production will invite audiences to move through the hidden spaces and winding corridors of Brisbane Powerhouse following Circa’s acrobats and guest artists as they explore the tension between instinct and control, vulnerability and strength, before culminating in a spectacular finale – an hour-long Circa show inspired by club culture.
Whether you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community, an ally, a family discovering the festival for the first time or a visitor to Brisbane, Melt is an invitation to come together, celebrate and experience the city at its brightest.
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“It’s meant to be a celebration of queers arts and culture and that should also be an invitation to the entire community,” Bezzina says. “I feel like Melt is quite unique in its scale … and our intention is to grow it into this unique Queensland event.”
For the first time, Brisbane Pride’s Rally, March and Fair Day will align with River Pride Parade on October 24, bringing together Brisbane’s largest celebrations in a single day that stretches from Fortitude Valley to New Farm and along the Brisbane River. The celebration will continue at Brisbane Powerhouse where Melt’s opening party (with free entry) will keep the energy going into the night with DJs, live performances and festivities.
New to the 2026 program is the inaugural Mr First Nation. Building on the success of Miss First Nation in 2025, producer Ben Graetz’s new competition celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander drag king performers and Blak excellence, with two heats leading to a glittering grand final on the festival’s opening weekend.
As part of the festival, Grammy nominated and multiple ARIA Award-winning Courtney Barnett will bring her Creature of Habit tour to Brisbane, while pop icon Melanie C will deliver a live show that celebrates her ninth studio album, Sweat.
Back by popular demand, Melting Pot returns in collaboration with QUIVR bar as Melt’s vibrant weekly hub to amplify local queer voices and stories throughout the festival. Melting Pot will host a mix of emerging and established artists spanning art, fashion, music and theatre, creating a place for audiences and artists to connect between performances.
Visual art, theatre and new performance continue to shape the festival across Brisbane with visual artists and performers The Huxleys presenting Bloodlines – a sparkling séance for queer arts’ silenced legends. Curated by Jacob Boehme, the work channels artists who were lost to HIV/AIDS and brings them back into dazzling, defiant life through photography, video, costume and live performance.
Award-winning choreographer Oli Mathiesen’s The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave condenses the chaos and catharsis of a three-day rave into a high-energy theatrical experience.
Participating venues across Brisbane including Fish Lane, Fortitude Valley, Howard Smith Wharves and Queen’s Wharf will become part of the Melt experience, encouraging audiences to explore Brisbane’s restaurants, bars and entertainment precincts between performances. From discovering unexpected pop-up moments and hidden performances to sharing a meal before a show or celebrating late into the night, Queer the Town invites audiences to experience the city in a whole new way. And there’s plenty more where that came from. Tickets are now on sale.
Melt Festival is supported by the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council.
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