Most events in Brisbane Festival are at South Bank, which is on the Brisbane River just 2 miles down river from our apartment and across from the main downtown area. It made for a beautiful backdrop!
The first show we went to was a band from Melbourne called Charge Group, which was sort of psychedelic rock. The show was in an alley in the city, and Sev was thrilled to finally see some live music in Brissy!
The next night, we went to the City of Lights display on South Bank. This was quite a show! There is a barge in the middle of Brisbane River that shoots water up and has laser lights and fireworks projected on it for nightly shows throughout the festival.
The lasers were projected from the tops of various buildings across the river onto the water that was pumped out of the river by the barge. It was amazing to watch!
There was also a soundtrack played by speakers lining the walkways at South Bank.
The show was about 15 minutes long, and displayed every color and shape imaginable.
The Light Sphere is an installation that reflects the river and city buildings around it and is lit up at night.
The international Lantern Garden marks the entrance to the South Bank Forecourt, where most of the events take place. Many things are outdoors as it's great weather this time of year.
Some of the more colorful lanterns. Behind the lanterns are the Brisbane theatre, dance, and opera buildings.
The next weekend, we went to a free Symphony Under the Stars show at Roma Street Parkland in downtown. It's a beautiful park in the middle of the city that has an amphitheater. There were at least a thousand people there.
We had a picnic dinner and ate the biggest strawberry on earth!
Quita made friends with this little girl who was fascinated but a little scared, so she pet Quita with her foot!
You can see here that Quita was on the lookout all night for the many birds and bats in the park! On our walk home, we saw the end of the City of Lights show from the middle of the river on the bridge! It was fun to see it from a different angle.
The last show we went to was La Soiree, described as "twisted cabaret, circus, and contemporary vaudeville." La Soiree was in the Spiegeltent, this decadent renaissance-looking tent put up on South Bank for the festival.
Along the outside of the tent are various renaissance paintings with out of place items, such as the cell phone in this one.
We got some drinks and watched the City of Lights show for the 3rd time while waiting to enter the tent!
We took these pictures before the show started as there were no cameras allowed during the show. There was some really good comedy, dance, acrobatics, and a naked magic trick (hence no cameras)!
Inside, the Spiegeltent is old-fashioned circus themed and the performances happened right on the stage in the center.
We had a few drinks and went through the photo booth after the show.
Our photo booth picture. The pink thing I'm holding is the Brisbane Festival logo.
There was some fun people watching (shirtless man in this picture case in point), and a dance party later on. There's one more weekend of Brisbane Festival, but we'll be at the Whitsunday Islands instead!
