Welcome to the weekend.
While most other countries in the world are still struggling with opening up and getting back to some semblance of normality, Brisbane is striding into the future with festivals, art installations, performances and more.
So, here are a few of our top recommendations on where to go, what to see, and what to look forward to this weekend in Brisbane.
1. Go BAD
Brisbane Art Design is back this May with even more exhibitions, ideas, tours, experiences, and food offerings that will excite, entertain and enchant the public across four weekends. The second weekend of whole-venue takeovers, live improvisational art and plenty of pop-ups will be happening across the city. See everything that’s going on in the city here.
2. Botanica — Contemporary Art Outside
From Friday 7 May to Sunday 16 May, the botanic gardens will be transformed into a wonderland for both children and adults alike. While the full program has not yet been revealed, expect to see artist workshops, sonic tours, spoken-word activities and a poetry-slam night as well as live-drawing events.
3. Brisbane Street Art Festival
Returning to its roots in 2021 with its sixth edition, the Brisbane Street Art Festival kicks off this weekend on Saturday 1 May and will continue through until Sunday 16 May with live murals, workshops, special events and a few artist talks as well.
4. Anywhere Festival
Exciting storytelling and performances don’t need to be confined to stuffy theatre spaces, which is why the Anywhere Festival takes shows out of their formal settings and puts them into local businesses and homes. In the past, there has been comedy in alleyways, circus in driveways, storytelling on waterways and everywhere else that isn’t a theatre. This year (May 6-23) will be no different.
Check out the website for more info and tickets.
5. Potions classes
Professor Snape is taking a break, but Potions class continues under the guidance and expertise of The Wizard’s Den pop-up school on Little Stanley Street, where apprentices are given robes and wands to act the part and will be battling against each other for fame and glory.
6. The Urban Wine Walk
Be your own guide on this Urban Wine Walk around some of Brisbane’s best bars and restaurants serving up some of the sweetest (not the flavour) wines you can get your hands on. Venues, which include Grape Therapy, John Mills Himself, Naga Thai, City Winery and Embassy Bar among others, are all conveniently located within walking distance from each other so that your next drink is only a skip and a hop away.
More info here7. Australian Cocktail Month
From 1 May to 31 May, participating bars in each city have put together an exclusive menu for Australian Cocktail Month ticket holders. The tickets, which are valid in all four cities and for the entire month of May, are just $20.
In Brisbane, there are 18 bars (out of the total 72) that will take part in the festival’s first edition. These include Blackbird, Cielo, Death & Taxes, Electric Avenue, Iris, Super Whatnot and Dawn. To see the full list of bars participating as well as the cocktails that they have concocted for the month of May, click here.
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8. The Time Travel Cafe
Theatre is best when it’s immersive. So, step into the Time Travel Cafe hiding behind a tailor shop in the heart of the Woolloongabba antique precinct where you will meet a cast of historical figures who, for some reason or another, are very keen on getting to know you. In this 60-minute immersive theatre experience, you will talk, connect, question, console, and explore the speakeasy bar by SpaceFold.
The show runs from 5 May to 23 May with three performances per night. See here for more info.
9. City Symphony
QMF and Textile Audio are inviting Brisbanites to experience the city through live music as well as ”an interactive, multi-layered audio experience”. In celebration of the new City Symphony app, a series of free performances from Hope D, MZAZA, JADE New World Collective, The Ancient Bloods, Ella Fence, Taitu’uga Kitch Wesche and the Barefoot Boyz will take place at three city locations.
Kicking off at 11am, the live music sets will be taking over in King George Square, Queen Street Mall and Brisbane Botanic Gardens.
Click here for set times.10. Dine BNE City
Fifty of Brisbane City’s best dining and drinking locations are coming together under the Dine BNE banner to put on more than 80 exclusive offers and experiences over two weeks. You’ll be hard-pressed to miss this new kid on the block, but a fortnight can be over in a flash so you best check out the full program and book your tables now.
Happening from 13 May to 30 May. More info here.
12. Hello Please’s Fun Cha Sriracha Sunday
On Sunday 16 May, the insanely popular Fun Cha series of lunches returns with a multi-course menu featuring the beloved condiment. From the first plate to the last as well as adding a dose of Sriracha to the cocktail of the day, this is one special lunch that Sriracha fiends and fanatics—we know you exist—can not miss.
13. Go on a brewery cruise on the Brisbane River
River to Bay is doing brewery tours up and down the Brisbane River where you will hop-on and hop-off to get to your bevvies. The standard tour will see you picked up at Northshore Harbour before being ferried up to Kangaroo Point’s Sea Legs Brewery before returning via Black Hops and BrewDog. Tours take place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and include two complimentary drinks on the boat between venues. The tour can also be taken at night.
14. Go Crab And Cray Cray
After a shell-out last year, the five-course crab and crayfish bottomless weekend lunch at One Fish Two Fish is back. And it’s back for two months, running every Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout April and May (except Mother’s Day).
See here for more info.15. See Brisbane from a kayak
Glide along the Brisbane River and see the city from a unique angle as you are guided past South Bank and under Story Bridge.