Ready or not, silly season is around the corner and all the twinkling magic of this time of year will start lighting up every corner of our city.
Uptown Brisbane got a head start and is already sprinkling joy and sweet tidings thanks to its candy-coated Christmas in the City, which will bring gorgeous decorations, nostalgic treats and dreamy activities to Queen Street Mall all throughout the holiday season.
Local artist and designer Kirsten Devitt has reimagined Uptown for this yuletide with her Candy Coated Christmas Windows, a festive installation that evoke the celestial magic of Brisbane’s subtropical fairy floss sunsets, frosted in fun and candy-coated celebration!
From now until January 4, 2026, you can marvel at four original display windows, featuring Devitt’s signature bold, playful design and whimsical wit that make the everyday extraordinary. The striking installation is bound to stop you in your tracks — even if you’re Christmas shopping — with its over 60 glittery Christmas bears, including a giant revolving bear, and over 1,000 twinkling lights, neon text signs, tinsel accents and more than 200 suspended stars!
Drawing from her own Christmas traditions and memories, like the excitement of family road trips to Brisbane, where glittering festive windows were an important holiday ritual, she channels the sense of wonder and nostalgia into these shimmering spaces. Through colour, light, and imagination, she captures the shared magic of celebration, where childhood wonder and community meet in a radiant, contemporary expression of festive spirit.
As she explains, “I’m delighted to celebrate joy and the exuberant spirit of Christmas by bringing a blend of tradition and reinvention to Uptown Brisbane and the iconic Queen Street Mall windows.”
These delightful windows are just the beginning! This year, Uptown is going all out and, from November 20, you can sleigh the competition at a candy-themed, five-hole mini-golf game and snap a sweet memory at the photobooth at the Candy Coated Christmas Mart!
You can also customise your own tote bag at pop-up from December 1 and go on the sweetest scavenger hunt for a hidden Gingerbread House door, as part of the beloved annual Brisbane City Tiny Doors.