Brisbane Archives - West End Today

Folk-Pop Artist Lucy Gallant Heads Back to Brisbane With LOVEfest Performance

Bohemian folk-pop artist Lucy Gallant, who sold out her Love Bubble Tribe Gathering at West End’s Tanuki Lounge earlier this year, is bringing her touring show back to south-east Queensland as momentum continues to build around her alcohol-free live music events.

Gallant will perform at LOVEfest in Mount Samson on 27 June before heading to Fingal Head for another Love Bubble Tribe Gathering at Salt & Stone on 4 July. The West End crowd that packed out the Tanuki Lounge already knows what to expect: a one-woman band blending folk, reggae and soul, accompanied by her chihuahua Lola, and a room that feels more like a gathering than a gig.

For those who missed out, LOVEfest Brisbane at Kupidabin Wilderness in Mount Samson offers another chance to catch one of the more distinctive live acts currently touring the east coast.

A career built on independence

Lucy Gallant is a Cairns and Byron-based singer-songwriter who has spent years carving out her own lane. She has performed in 55 countries and appeared on stages including Glastonbury, Byron Bluesfest, Woodford Folk Festival and Kuranda Roots Festival.

She writes, performs and, on her 2019 album Darkness to Light, produced and played every instrument herself. That kind of independent, uncompromising approach runs through everything she does.

A different kind of night out

The Love Bubble Tribe Gatherings are Lucy’s answer to a live music scene she wanted to reshape. They are alcohol-free, all-ages, family-friendly events built around genuine connection, vegan food and Lucy’s own Love Bubble Elixir Bar of mocktail creations. The format is intentional: a respectful listening atmosphere that puts the music and the people in the room at the centre of the experience.

Lucy launched the gatherings earlier in 2026, starting with a sold-out inaugural event in Manly in April. Every Love Bubble Tribe Gathering since, including Byron Bay and West End, has sold out. The concept has found its audience quickly, drawing people who want to share in live music without the noise of a conventional pub show.

“It is a gathering created to celebrate music, genuine connection and good vibes in a warm and welcoming space,” Lucy has said of the events.

The music behind the movement

Lucy released her latest single Forbidden Love in February 2026, a track that earned her a semi-finalist placing in the International Songwriting Competition. The single was produced by Gold Coast-based Josh Beattie and mastered by Paul Blakey, and is streaming now on Spotify. A follow-up single, Venom, and a new EP are both due for release later this year, with the EP also set to include Bad Boy, Devious and F You.

Her catalogue blends the personal with the political in the way folk music always has. The song Heaven, written during the COVID period when Lucy lost both her parents within six months of each other and was unable to be with her father when he passed, sits alongside the more celebratory, rhythm-driven tracks that define her live show.

Dismissed early in life as someone unlikely to amount to much, she has since composed more than 1,000 songs and built a following of over 100,000 across social media.

Catch her live

LOVEfest Brisbane takes place at Kupidabin Wilderness, Mount Samson on Saturday 27 June. Tickets are available here, and Lucy’s discount code LUCYLOVE10 takes 10 per cent off the ticket price.

The Love Bubble Tribe Gathering at Salt & Stone in Fingal Head follows on Saturday 4 July, with doors at 7pm. Tickets are $30 plus booking fee through Humanitix, and the venue website is saltstonefingal.com.au. A Bellingen date is also in the works, with details to be confirmed.

Lucy’s music is on Spotify, Bandcamp and SoundCloud. Recommended starting points from her catalogue include Forbidden Love, Bad Boy and Devious. For interview requests, contact press representative Kim Queen at kimqueensidaho@gmail.com or 0420 613 612, or reach Lucy directly at lucygallantbookings@gmail.com.

Published 24-June-2026

From Brisbane’s Indie Theatre Scene to Mamma Mia! on the Gold Coast

Brisbane performer Juliette Coates is playing Ali in an all-Australian production of Mamma Mia! at The Star Gold Coast, presented by The Very Popular Theatre Company. Coates brings proven independent theatre credibility to the powerhouse 31 member cast after extensive work across the West End and broader Brisbane stage scenes.

The production opens at The Star Theatre on 4 September and runs until 20 September, with the official blue carpet premiere taking place on 8 September. Coates has worked across Brisbane’s independent theatre spaces, including West End’s Metro Arts, the iconic, 40 plus year old multi arts organisation now based in the West Village precinct.

Her recent track record includes a standout performance in Queensland Theatre’s highly praised production of Calamity Jane, alongside her work in Eat, Slay, Zombie.

She joins a select group of local artists, with five Gold Coast and Brisbane performers securing coveted principal roles.

A show that outlasts the trends

Since its 1999 debut in London’s West End, Mamma Mia! has captured the hearts of more than 70 million people worldwide. The 2008 film adaptation starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried went on to become one of the highest grossing movie musicals of all time.

Driven by 22 iconic ABBA tracks, including Dancing Queen, SOS, and the titular Mamma Mia!, the production relies on a live band and an energetic, sing along crowd to deliver an unmatched feel good atmosphere.

A cast built for the big stage

Musical theatre star Erin Cornell (WICKED, CATS) leads the production as Donna Sheridan. Brisbane’s Chloe Rose Taylor (Beauty and the Beast UK Tour) steps into the role of Tanya, while Gold Coaster Jo Anne Jackson takes on Rosie. Together, they form the iconic, 1970s inspired trio Donna and the Dynamos.

Gold Coast local Emily Monsma (WICKED, Hairspray) plays Sophie, the daughter whose upcoming wedding drives the plot. Brisbane born Timothy Aaron Cooper returns to Queensland stages as Harry Bright. Cooper built his early reputation with the Ipswich Musical Theatre Company before touring the US on the Broadway national tour of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Jersey Boys.

An accomplished creative team steers the production. Director Erin James, Choreographer Rachel Stark, and Musical Director Jonathon Gardner collectively bring a wealth of experience from major commercial hits like Wicked and Billy Elliot. Gardner, a prominent Brisbane based conductor and educator, further strengthens the local connection as an alumnus of South Bank’s Queensland Conservatorium of Music.

A substantial contingent of South East Queensland talent bolsters the ensemble cast, including Brisbane performers Laura Garrick and Lucy Ross, ensuring the production maintains a distinctly local flavor.

Getting there from West End

The Star Theatre at Broadbeach sits just over an hour’s drive from West End. Alternatively, theatregoers can catch a train from South Brisbane station and connect directly to the Gold Coast light rail at Helensvale, stepping off at Broadbeach South. For a production packed with this much local DNA, it is a trip well worth making.

Secure your seats at mammamiagoldcoast.com.au.

Published 22-June-2026

West End Twilight Market to Light Up Davies Park

The West End Solstice Twilight Market is set to transform Davies Park into a six-hour winter celebration, with more than 150 stalls, live fire performances, roving entertainers and a pop-up bar taking over the riverside precinct.

The free event runs from 4pm to 10pm on 19 June at the corner of Montague Road and Jane Street. Registering for a free ticket also enters visitors into a draw for a gourmet market hamper.

The annual event has become one of the most anticipated nights on West End’s community calendar, bringing a different energy to the park that serves as the backdrop for the weekly Saturday morning markets. Same location, same community roots, different mood entirely.

How Davies Park transforms after sunset

The Camali Band headlines the live music program, setting the tone as the light drops and the temperature follows. Roving performers work the crowd throughout the evening: fire performers, the Fire Fairy, Japanese Drummers, face painters, the Bubble Magic Man and a live glass blowing demonstration that tends to draw its own audience once it gets going.

Bonfires are positioned across the park to gather around. The pop-up bar serves craft beer and Glühwein, the warm spiced wine that has become a fixture of the event over its years at Davies Park.

The park’s canopy of Moreton Bay figs, which frame the Saturday morning market in shade, takes on a completely different character with fire and low winter light underneath them.

The food

Over 150 stalls covers everything from fresh artisan finds to gourmet street food built for a winter night. Wagyu Blacks, Get to Bird and Barbie on Charcoal are among the food vendors confirmed for the evening, covering the heavier and more satisfying end of the market food spectrum.

The broader stall mix covers handmade and artisan goods alongside the food, with the scale of the event giving it more range than a typical Friday night market.

A market with decades behind it

Davies Park has been home to a beloved weekly market for decades, with the West End Markets now operating under Goodwill Projects, running every Saturday from 6am to 2pm beneath a canopy of Moreton Bay figs along the Brisbane River.

The winter solstice event sits outside that regular schedule as an annual occasion, and its community following reflects how embedded the market culture is in West End’s identity.

The Winter Solstice Twilight Market has run each June, taking advantage of the suburb’s capacity to turn an outdoor space into something genuinely festive when the occasion calls for it.

The West End Solstice Twilight Market runs next Friday, 19 June from 4pm to 10pm at the corner of Montague Road and Jane Street, West End. Free entry. RSVP via the Facebook event or click here to register for a free ticket and the hamper draw.

Published 12-June-2026

West End Arts Venue Featured in Dancing With The Stars Spin-off

Photo Credit: John-PaulLangbroekMP/Facebook

A West End landmark will step into the international dance spotlight, with the Thomas Dixon Centre among the Brisbane locations used for Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, a new Robert Irwin-hosted series following emerging dancers competing for a professional place in the franchise.

West End Steps Into The Dance Spotlight

West End’s Thomas Dixon Centre has become part of a new chapter in the Dancing with the Stars franchise, with the Robert Irwin-hosted spin-off completing filming in Brisbane.

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro is an ABC US series produced by BBC Studios. The show is hosted by Queensland-born wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin, who was previously named champion of Dancing with the Stars season 34.

The series follows 12 up-and-coming dancers as they live together and compete for a place as a professional dancer in the next season of Dancing with the Stars. Unlike the main program, the focus is on emerging dance talent seeking a professional role within the franchise.

Thomas Dixon Centre Among Brisbane Filming Locations

Filming took place in Brisbane earlier in 2026, with locations including the Thomas Dixon Centre in West End, the home of Queensland Ballet.

The choice of location gives the series a clear connection to Brisbane’s performing arts scene. The Thomas Dixon Centre is closely associated with dance in the city, making it a natural setting for a program centred on ballroom performers competing for a place on a major television stage.

The production also brought screen work to Brisbane during filming, with an estimated $7.2 million contribution and around 110 local cast and crew employed.

Photo Credit: John-PaulLangbroekMP/Facebook

Robert Irwin Leads The New Format

For Robert Irwin, The Next Pro continues his connection with Dancing with the Stars, moving from competitor to host.

The judging line-up includes Mark Ballas and Shirley Ballas, bringing established dance figures into the new competition format. The series is produced by BBC Studios, with Conrad Green serving as showrunner and executive producer.

BBC Studios’ recent work connected to Queensland also includes the upcoming Bluey feature film from Brisbane’s Ludo Studio.

Brisbane-filmed Series Heads to US Television

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro is scheduled to premiere on Monday 13 July on ABC in the United States.

The series places a local arts venue within a new dance-focused television format. For Brisbane, it adds another screen production to the city’s recent film and television activity, while giving the Thomas Dixon Centre a role in a program built around the next generation of professional dancers.

Published 21-May-2026

The West End Park Where Aboriginal Girls Were Once Sent Into Service Is Now a Place of Reconnection

Brooke Prentis/Facebook

Link-Up (Qld) has identified more than 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls connected to the former Aboriginal Girls Home at West End, making their names available online as part of a research project aimed at helping descendants reconnect with that history.

The work is among the most direct efforts yet to restore identity and family connection for those touched by the institution, which operated from 1899 to 1906 on the land now known as Cranbrook Place within Orleigh Park. For descendants across Queensland and beyond who may have had gaps in their family history they could never fully explain, the project offers something concrete to reach toward.

Link-Up (Qld) chief executive Patricia Thompson AM said the research is fundamentally about recognition. “It is about recognising the women and girls who were removed from their families, and creating opportunities for descendants to reconnect with that history,” she said.

The history behind the former Aboriginal Girls Home

The Aboriginal Girls Home operated under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, one of the most sweeping pieces of legislation in Queensland’s history. The Act gave the Chief Protector of Aboriginals extensive control over the movements, employment and daily lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the state.

The West End home functioned as a receiving depot and transit point. Girls and young women were brought to Brisbane from communities across Queensland, held at the home, and then placed into domestic service in white households, often far from their families and Country.

Any single woman travelling through Brisbane or between domestic postings was required to stay there. The institution was classified as a reserve under the Act in 1904.

By 1900, 22 Aboriginal young women were in domestic service in Brisbane. That number had climbed to 121 by the time the home closed in 1906 following a public inquiry into conditions there. The house itself, known as Cranbrook, was demolished years later. Only a set of concrete steps remains at the site today.

Names that were nearly lost

The research Link-Up undertook drew on historical records to identify 80 women and girls who are directly or indirectly referenced in connection with the Home. That work builds on earlier research and represents years of archival effort to recover names and details that were never intended to be easily found.

Those names are now published on Link-Up’s website as part of an ongoing commitment to honour the lives of women who passed through the institution and to support healing for the families who came after them. Descendants who register their interest through the site can also receive updates about the project and be invited to contribute to future stages of the work.

A community that gathers every year at Orleigh Park

Link-Up has held a Sorry Day event at Cranbrook Place each year during Sorry Week, the period leading up to National Sorry Day on 26 May. This year’s breakfast drew Stolen Generations survivors, performers Kristal West and the Nunukul Yuggera Dancers, and community members from across the region to the site where the Home once stood.

National Sorry Day marks the anniversary of the tabling of the Bringing Them Home report in federal parliament in 1997, which documented the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. A memorial to the Stolen Generations was erected at Orleigh Park in 2012, four years after the federal apology in 2008.

For descendants wanting to connect with the research or register their interest in the project, click here. Link-Up (Qld) can also be reached directly through their website for family reunion and reconnection support services.

Published 21-May-2026

Function Well Has Arrived in West End, and It’s Unlike Anything Else on Brisbane’s Southside

Function Well has opened its West End flagship, bringing a $15 million, four-level wellness hub to Brisbane’s southside that combines 24/7 training, five boutique studios, a full recovery zone and an on-site Turkish café under one roof for the first time in the brand’s history.

The West End location, which opened its doors on Monday 27 April, is the most ambitious project yet from founders Darren and Natasha Bain, who have spent more than 16 years shaping Brisbane’s fitness and wellness landscape. Their original Function Well opened in Newstead, where it still operates across three levels in the Breakfast Creek Lifestyle Precinct.

A second location at Toombul was lost to the 2022 floods. West End is the fresh chapter, and at 3,000 square metres it is built to be the definitive expression of everything the brand has been working toward.

“Function Well West End is our most elevated offering,” Darren Bain said. “We set out to design a premium, high-performance environment that brings together our four pillars, mindset, movement, nutrition and restoration, to support total wellbeing for our members.”

Four Levels Built Around Yin and Yang

The philosophy running through Function Well has always balanced intensity with stillness, effort with recovery. That yin and yang approach shapes how the West End space is designed, with high-performance training zones on one side of the member experience and a genuinely luxurious restoration offering on the other.

The training side covers a 24/7 gym floor alongside five custom-built boutique studios offering reformer Pilates, a heated immersive yoga room and functional training sessions. The space is also an official HYROX training club, making it one of Brisbane’s primary destinations for the global fitness racing movement, which combines eight kilometres of running with eight functional workout stations.

The recovery side is equally considered. Members move between a sauna, hot and cold plunge pools, compression boots, massage therapy, red light therapy, a Recovery Cave and private recovery suites. It is the kind of restoration offering that previously required a dedicated day spa visit, now built directly into a gym membership.

A premium business and social lounge gives members a third mode entirely: a space to linger, connect, or catch up on work after training.

A Turkish Café Completes the Picture

The nutrition pillar at West End takes the form of Sureyya Kahve, a nutrient-led Turkish café from the team behind KAILO Wellness Medispa. The café reinforces what Function Well has always argued: that food is not a footnote to a fitness routine but an integral part of it. The presence of a full café operator of this calibre on-site signals that West End is designed as a destination, not just a gym you pass through.

“We’ve always believed in a holistic approach, where community and results sit at the core of everything we do,” Bain said. “What excites us now is bringing that philosophy to a new level within a true all-in-one lifestyle destination. Our team is incredibly proud and excited to officially open the doors and welcome the West End community into something truly unique.”

Visit Function Well West End

Function Well West End is at West Village, 97 Boundary Street, West End. Membership options are available at here. Follow Function Well on Instagram for class schedules, studio bookings and member updates.

Published 30-April-2026

Metro Arts Secures Grant to Bring Touch to Contemporary Art in West End

Metro Arts

Metro Arts has secured a grant through Brisbane Airport‘s record 2026 Community Giving Fund, using the funding to install and deliver an eight-week tactile exhibition and events programme designed specifically for the blind and visually impaired community.

The grant is one of sixteen awarded across the city as Brisbane Airport distributed its largest-ever Community Giving Fund, sharing $125,000 among grassroots organisations working across education, health, environment and community inclusion. For Metro Arts, the funding arrives at a meaningful moment.

The West End arts centre is rebuilding its programme through a “rewiring” process after losing federal Creative Australia funding for the 2025 to 2028 period. The Brisbane Airport grant gives the organisation a concrete new project and a new community to reach.

This tactile exhibition addresses a significant gap in accessible arts programming that many venues overlook. Brisbane Airport Community Engagement Manager Portia Allison said each recipient in this year’s fund plays an important role in building a stronger, more connected community.

“Our Community Giving Fund is about giving back where it counts,” Allison said. “From youth programs to grassroots sport, there are organisations and groups across every corner of Brisbane delivering important work to support their local communities.”

An Arts Centre That Has Always Backed New Ideas

Metro Arts has occupied a distinctive position in Brisbane’s cultural life since its founding more than 40 years ago. Its theatre, two galleries, rehearsal rooms and the Factory Lane outdoor precinct sit inside the West Village development at 97 Boundary Street, offering a purpose-built home for contemporary work across theatre, dance, cabaret, circus, music and visual art.

The organisation champions artists who take creative risks and develop new works, and over its history has served as a launchpad for some of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists. Its current “rewiring” programme, announced earlier in 2026, is focused on building new partnerships, rethinking how it presents art, and strengthening the infrastructure that supports both artists and audiences for the long term.

The tactile exhibition programme fits that forward-looking ambition directly. Tactile art experiences, which use raised surfaces, textures, soundscapes and physical interaction rather than visual contemplation, represent one of the most significant frontiers in accessible arts programming internationally. For a venue built around experimentation, it is a natural fit.

A Step Forward for Inclusive Arts in West End

Since 2016 the Brisbane Airport Community Giving Fund has poured more than $655,000 into local community organisations. This year’s round was expanded by $25,000 over 2025, when $100,000 was distributed to coincide with 100 years of Brisbane Airport.

For Metro Arts and the West End community, the tactile exhibition and events programme represents something the suburb’s arts scene has rarely seen: a dedicated, extended programme designed from the ground up for audiences who are blind or have low vision. West End has long been one of Brisbane’s most culturally diverse and community-minded neighbourhoods, and Metro Arts sits at the centre of that identity.

Metro Arts is at 97 Boundary Street, West End, inside the West Village precinct, accessible via Factory Lane. The venue’s window gallery is open 24 hours a day, and its office operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. For programme updates, event details and to subscribe to the Metro Arts newsletter, visit metroarts.com.au or follow the organisation on Instagram at @metroarts.

Published 20-April-2026

Upstate Has Opened Its First Brisbane Studio in West End

Upstate

Upstate, the Melbourne-born reformer pilates and hot yoga brand that has built a devoted following across Victoria and expanded into Queensland and New South Wales over the past year, has opened its first Brisbane studio at 391 Montague Road in West End.

The studio marks another significant step in one of Australian fitness’s more compelling growth stories. Upstate launched in Victoria and spent more than a decade becoming a genuine institution, before opening its first interstate location at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast in July 2025, then landing in Sydney’s Five Dock in September 2025. West End now brings the brand to Brisbane proper, and according to co-founder and co-CEO Gail Asbell, the neighbourhood was the obvious choice.

“Brisbane has such an incredible energy and community spirit, and West End in particular has a character that feels perfectly aligned with Upstate,” Asbell said. “It’s creative, vibrant and social — exactly the kind of neighbourhood where people want to move, connect and feel good.”

What the Studio Actually Looks Like

True to Upstate’s identity, the West End studio is not subtle. Bold and neon interiors in the brand’s signature sunshine yellow run throughout, designed specifically to lift mood on arrival before a single class has begun. Studios are designed to boost members’ mood and motivation, with bright interiors decked in positive hues and energising neon as defining features of every Upstate location.

Upstate's sttudio — Photo Credit: Upstate

The space at Studio 7 on Montague Road splits across two workout rooms. The first is a 24-bed reformer studio for the pilates crowd, and the second is a 35-person hot mat studio for those who prefer a sweatier experience. Three unisex toilets and showers mean members can freshen up and flow straight back into their day without interruption.

The class timetable spans reformer pilates, hot mat pilates, hot power yoga, yin and sound baths, giving members plenty of range depending on whether they want to push hard or wind down.

The Brand Behind the Neon

Upstate was founded by Gail Asbell and her sister Charelle Cuolahan, and started as 100 per cent yoga before evolving over the years to add hot mat pilates, reformer pilates and boxing as the brand grew. As a female-led powerhouse, Upstate prioritises community and real career paths for women over growth for growth’s sake.

The co-founder has been deliberate about keeping classes approachable, describing the ideal room as “full of diversity, from people doing their first classes ever, to someone who’s gone for a long time.” That philosophy carries through to West End, where the studio welcomes everyone from complete beginners to seasoned practitioners.

With locations now spanning Victoria, the Gold Coast and Sydney alongside the new Brisbane opening, Upstate has moved from a Melbourne institution to a genuine national presence in the space of less than twelve months.

Getting Started at Upstate West End

A launch offer gives new members 14 days of unlimited access for $29, covering reformer, hot mat and hot yoga classes. Upstate West End is at Studio 7, 391 Montague Road, West End. Bookings and membership are available here.

Published 13-April-2026

This Week in Brisbane: Horror Icons and Arthouse Classics from 26 February to 4 March 2026

Cinemas across Brisbane light up this week with the terrifying return of a horror icon and a brand-new drama. Whether you’re ready to face Ghostface once again or looking to dive into international cinematic masterpieces at GOMA, there’s something fresh to enjoy on the silver screen.

Opening This Week

Scream 7

In cinemas from 26 February

Do you like scary movies? Ghostface is back to terrorize a new set of victims in the highly anticipated seventh installment of the iconic slasher franchise. Catch it at Event Cinemas (City, Carindale, Chermside, Indooroopilly, Mt Gravatt), Palace, Dendy, Five Star Cinemas, Cinebar, Angelika, Reading, Cineplex, and HOYTS.

Solo Mio

In cinemas from 26 February

A fresh new drama hits the screens this week. Catch it at Event Cinemas (City, Carindale, Chermside, Indooroopilly, Mt Gravatt), Angelika, Cinebar, Cineplex (Balmoral, Victoria Point, Redbank), Reading, HOYTS, and United Eldorado.

GOMA: Cinema Masterpieces

Special screenings at the Gallery of Modern Art

Days of Heaven (1978) – 27 Feb
Querelle (1982) – 27 Feb
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965) – 28 Feb
The Colour of Pomegranates (1969) – 28 Feb
The Lighthouse (2019) – 4 Mar

Still Showing

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

The King’s immersive concert experience continues to rock major cinemas across Brisbane.

Fackham Hall

The hilarious British period drama spoof is still delivering laughs at Event, Palace, Dendy, and Five Star Cinemas.

Crime 101

Chris Hemsworth’s gritty heist thriller continues its run at Event, Palace, Dendy, and HOYTS.

Wuthering Heights

Margot Robbie’s modern take on the gothic romance is still showing across the city.

From edge-of-your-seat slashers to visually stunning art-house classics, Brisbane’s cinemas are packed with incredible stories this week. Grab some popcorn and enjoy a screening near you.

Weekend Arts Edit: Nell Gwynn Premiere and Candlelight Concerts on 27 February to 1 March 2026

This is a massive weekend for the arts in Brisbane. The blockbuster Art of Banksy exhibition enters its final days in the CBD, while QPAC is buzzing with everything from the lush cinematic sounds of The Music of John Williams to the lavish stage production of The Great Gatsby. For art lovers, Saturday offers a rare chance to hear directly from contemporary painters like Carlos Barrios and Helle Cook at their respective gallery talks.

The Art of Banksy “Without Limits” Chapter Two

20 February – 1 March 2026 | Uptown, Brisbane City
Get Tickets

Do not miss your last chance to experience the underground energy of the world’s most elusive street artist. This unprecedented new chapter features over 300 artworks—including more than 100 original pieces—alongside cutting-edge holograms, sculptures, and immersive installations.

The Music of John Williams

27 – 28 February 2026 | Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane
Get Tickets

Experience the cinematic magic of the world’s greatest film composer. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra brings the iconic, sweeping scores of Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter to life in a spine-tingling live performance.

The Great Gatsby

12 February – 8 March 2026 | Playhouse, QPAC, South Brisbane
Get Tickets

Step into the roaring twenties. Queensland Theatre’s lavish production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece continues its dazzling run. Expect glitz, glamour, and tragedy as Jay Gatsby tries to win back his lost love in a world of excess.

Blanc de Blanc Encore

19 February – 19 April 2026 | The West End Electric, West End
Get Tickets

The champagne-soaked party is back in West End! Blanc de Blanc Encore serves up a hedonistic blend of vintage French cabaret, jaw-dropping circus acts, and cheeky comedy. It’s a high-energy, adults-only night out.

Nell Gwynn

28 February – 7 March 2026 | New Benner Theatre, Metro Arts, West End
Get Tickets

Travel back to 17th-century London in this vibrant, award-winning comedy. Nell Gwynn tells the story of an unlikely heroine who goes from selling oranges in the West End to becoming Britain’s most celebrated actress (and the King’s mistress).

Institute of Modern Art (IMA) Events

28 February 2026 | IMA, Fortitude Valley Immerse yourself in contemporary discussions and live art this Saturday at the IMA:

Platform 2026 Performances: Experience bold new performance art from emerging creatives pushing boundaries. More Info
Are the Arts for Everyone?: A thought-provoking panel discussion tackling accessibility, inclusion, and the role of art in modern society. More Info

The Other Side of Me

27 – 28 February 2026 | Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, South Brisbane
Get Tickets

Catch this compelling theatrical exploration of identity, culture, and connection. It is a deeply personal and physically dynamic performance playing for two nights only in the intimate Cremorne Theatre.

Live Jazz at the Brisbane Jazz Club

27 February – 1 March 2026 | Kangaroo Point

Emma Pask Quartet (Fri 27 & Sat 28): One of Australia’s favourite jazz vocalists brings her effortless charm and swing to the riverside. Tickets
Andy Cowan Band (Sun 1 Mar): Wind down your weekend with some premier blues and roots piano. Tickets

Candlelight Concerts

27 – 28 February 2026 | Grand on Ann, Brisbane City

Experience the magic of live music illuminated by thousands of candles in a stunning heritage venue:

Tribute to Taylor Swift: Classical renditions of the pop icon’s biggest eras. Tickets
Tribute to Queen & The Beatles: A string quartet takes on the greatest hits of British rock royalty. Tickets

Gallery Exhibitions & Artist Talks

Various Locations

Carlos Barrios | ‘Heart Songs’ (Artist Talk: Sat 28 Feb, 2pm): Mitchell Fine Art, Fortitude Valley. Hear Barrios discuss his life-affirming, expressive paintings informed by his upbringing in El Salvador. More Info
Helle Cook | Nature of Light (Artist Talk: Sat 28 Feb): Jan Manton Gallery, Teneriffe. Engage with the artist on her luminous, atmospheric works before the exhibition closes this weekend. More Info
Fiona Omeenyo | Night & Day: FireWorks Gallery, Bowen Hills. Explore striking contemporary Indigenous works from the celebrated Lockhart River artist. More Info

Hush

1 March 2026 | Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane
Get Tickets

The Southern Cross Soloists present Hush, a sublime Sunday afternoon concert featuring exquisite chamber music designed to soothe the soul and showcase breathtaking virtuosity.

British Film Festival Premiere: Midwinter Break

1 March 2026 | Palace Barracks & Palace James St Cinema
Get Tickets

Get a sneak peek at the Russell Hobbs British Film Festival with this special preview screening of Midwinter Break, a touching and beautifully acted drama about a couple reflecting on their long marriage during a trip to Amsterdam.

This weekend is a pivotal one for Brisbane’s arts scene. With the blockbuster Art of Banksy exhibition finally closing its doors, this is your absolute last opportunity to experience its immersive installations. Meanwhile, theatregoers are spoiled for choice with the opening of the lively comedy Nell Gwynn in West End and the ongoing spectacle of The Great Gatsby at QPAC. Whether you are losing yourself in the sweeping cinematic scores of John Williams or exploring contemporary conversations at the IMA, there is a profound depth of culture to experience before autumn officially arrives.