Three Brisbane bridges are getting a technicolour makeover

Sydney Morning Herald

10-06-2025

They have collaborated with Nike, Adidas, Tate Modern and major magazines in the US such as New York, for the cover of which they contributed a portrait of Barack Obama.
The Craig and Karl activations will appear on the three bridges from September 5 to 27. Bezzina said their work would also appear in a public art trail throughout the city.
Another production that will make use of the river will be Baleen Moondjan, a musical dance piece by Stephen Page inspired by a whale story from Page's grandmother on Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island).
'We are going to set up a barge in front of Queen's Wharf for the beautiful whalebone set that Jacob Nash has created,' Bezzina said.
In addition to the popular free fireworks display Riverfire and drone show Skylore, Bezzina said a new light show, Afterglow, would be set up in the City Botanic Gardens to replace Lightscape.
Lightscape posted strong attendances in 2023 and 2024 but was criticised for high ticket prices and for occupying the gardens for weeks after the Brisbane Festival had finished and limiting access.
' Lightscape will run only for the dates of the Brisbane Festival, and the ticket price is lower as well,' Bezzina said.
The privately owned Twelfth Night Theatre in Bowen Hills, a Brisbane venue given over to amateur theatre for several decades, will get a refresh for the festival to host acrobatic cabaret Gatsby at the Green Light, which enjoyed a sold-out run at the Sydney Opera House in 2023.
'Twelfth Night has done nothing of this scale for many, many years and the transformation is unfolding as we speak,' Bezzina said.
A hot-ticket show from overseas will be Gems by LA Dance Project, the modern dance company run by superstar choreographer and former husband of Natalie Portman, Benjamin Millepied.
Two shows will pay tribute to pop music icons. Amplified is a theatrical retelling of the life of Divinyls' Chrissy Amphlett, while Tina – A Tropical Love Story is First Nations drag performer Ben Graetz's memoir of growing up a Tina Turner fan in Darwin.
Performer Josh Hinton, whose family runs longstanding Paddington Indian restaurant Sultan's Kitchen, will celebrate his upbringing and cook his grandmother's famed chicken curry on the Cremorne stage in A Place in Sultan's Kitchen.
'At the end of the show the audience are invited to eat the curry,' Bezzina said.
Already announced stage highlights include the Australian musical The Lovers by Laura Murphy staged by Shake and Stir, and Queensland Theatre's world premiere Back to Bilo, about the Biloelan community's efforts to stop Sri Lankan refugees the Nadesalingam family being deported.
The program of free concerts Brisbane Serenades will return with events in Manly, Moorooka, New Farm and St Lucia. Disability-led performing arts event Undercover Arts Festival also returns, with nine different shows.
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Bezzina, who takes over as CEO of Brisbane Powerhouse on October 20, said that after seven years as artistic director at Brisbane Festival it was time to pass on the baton.
'I'm quite devastated about leaving, but I also think it's important for change, a new artistic voice,' she said.
'I want to stay in my home city, and what a privileged opportunity it is to take on a role like the Brisbane Powerhouse.'
Brisbane Festival 2025 runs from September 5 to 27. Tickets and the full program are available at the website.