Brisbane Festival
GenreMajor arts, theatre, music and cultural festival
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Brisbane, Queensland
CountryAustralia
Inaugurated1996 (1996)
Most recent2 September – 24 September 2022 (2022-September-24)
Organised byBrisbane City Council
Queensland Government
Websitebrisbanefestival.com.au

Brisbane Festival is one of Australia's leading international arts festivals, and is held each September in Brisbane, Australia.[1]

Its presence dominates the city for three weeks in September and its line-up of classical and contemporary music, theatre, dance, comedy, opera, circus and major public events such as Riverfire attracts an audience of around one million people every year.

In 2019, Artistic Director David Berthold transformed the Festival into Australia's largest major international arts festival, presenting more works to more people than any other.[2]

History

Brisbane Festival Mirror Ball, 2012

Brisbane Festival was first held in 1996 as a joint initiative of the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council, intended to foster the arts. The festival evolved from Brisbane's Warana Festival, first held in 1962 following on from the successful Centenary of Celebrations in 1959.[3] The Warana Festival was an annual Spring extravaganza which included a 2 hour parade through the city streets featuring decorated floats, marching girls, entertainers, and bands, under the blue Brisbane skies.  Warana, which is an Aboriginal word for "blue skies", endured until the early 1990s and was eventually transformed into the more sophisticated Brisbane Festival of today.[4]

Originally held biennially, Brisbane Festival became an annual event in 2009 when it merged with Riverfire. The festival has had five artistic directors; Tony Gould (1996–2004), Lyndon Terracini (2006–2009), Noel Staunton (2010–2014), David Berthold (2015–2019) and Louise Bezzina (2020–2023).[5]

The 2016 event featured 3D street art.[6]

Riverfire in 2012

The 2020 festival was estimated to have generated $14 million into the Brisbane economy.[7] Because of the pandemic Riverfire was excluded from the event in 2020.[8]

In 2021, the theme for the festival was Brightly Brisbane. It featured light installations in several locations.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Major Brisbane Festivals. "History of Brisbane Festival". Major Brisbane Festivals. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Brisbane Festival unveils dazzling program packed with revelry, revelation and romance" (PDF). Brisbane Festival. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  3. ↑ This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Blue skies: Brisbane's Warana Festival programs (23 September 2022) by Chrissi Theodsoiou published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 17 January 2023.
  4. ↑ This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Wonderful Warana: Queensland's Own Spring Festival (1 September 2017) by Lynn Meyers published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 17 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "About us". Brisbane Festival. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Woodward, Jenny. "Brisbane Festival: 3D street art captures imaginations at the right angle". ABC News. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  7. 1 2 Gramenz, Emilie (3 September 2021). "Brisbane Festival draws heavily on local talent for a celebration of Queensland pride and optimism". abc.net.au. ABC News. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Seselja, Edwina (28 July 2020). "Coronavirus sees Riverfire axed from Brisbane Festival; lasers to light up skyline instead". abc.net.au. ABC News. Retrieved 24 October 2021.

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