With 23 glorious days of performance, public art and participation across the city, the 2026 Brisbane Festival features almost 2,000 artists and over 750 performances – from world premieres and major international productions to an expansive program of free community experiences. Australian Arts Review takes a look at twelve events worth checking out!
Bleachers
Underground Theatre – Brisbane Powerhouse: 16 – 19 September
Stories of loneliness and togetherness sit side by side in this new disability-led dance-theatre work by Sprung Ensemble – a collective of 10 d/Deaf and disabled artists from Bundjalung Country in Northern NSW. Rooted in the artists’ lived experiences, Bleachers delves into isolation, connection, relationships, and belonging. Drawing from regional showgrounds and communal spaces, the work explores the human desire to be part of something – to sit together, to be together, to understand one another. This visually striking production transforms a custom-built bleacher set into a living, shifting space where stories unfold and community comes alive. Bleachers is more than a show – it’s a conversation.
Common People Dance Eisteddfod
Chandler Theatre: Saturday 19 September
Brisbane’s most beloved tradition and dance battle of the ‘burbs is back. Get ready to see your neighbours, colleagues, and family members join one of the seven teams across southeast Queensland and transform into suburban gladiators as they jazz-slide, body-roll, and high-kick their way to glory. This is community arts at its most joyful – where the goal isn’t perfection but connection, laughter, courage, and creating something spectacular together. So warm up those hair rollers, hitch up your legwarmers, polish your dancing shoes, and get ready to cheer for your local team until you’re hoarse.
ESCAPE
Playhouse – QPAC: 23 – 27 September
This is a show that will leave you breathless. Visceral and high-octane, ESCAPE blends complex, moving architectural structures with multi-talented performers to create a blood-pumping and emotional multimedia experience. Along with DIAVOLO’s signature athletic movement aesthetic, ESCAPE features a collection of the company’s most famous architectural structures. Each evokes a story unique to its design, echoing themes of exploration, danger, fear, survival, resilience, and connection, all brought to life through a soundtrack spanning decades and genres, from pop and EDM to rock. Interacting with these incredible structures, the performers escape their ordinary lives into a surreal landscape of infinite possibilities, driven by extreme determination, joy, and collaboration. DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion® productions explore innovation and celebrate the complexity of the human condition with an undefinable blend of dance, stunt work, acrobatics, circus arts, and pedestrian movement. The work is athletic, captivating, and visceral.
Fijian Flying Circus
South Bank Piazza: continues to 4 October
The Fijian Flying Circus is a high-energy celebration of Spirit, Culture, and Joy. Created by the internationally renowned Fijian dance tribe VOU (‘new’ in the iTaukei language), this dazzling production fuses breathtaking circus with island storytelling in a way you’ve never seen before. All under the magic of the big top circus tent at South Bank’s Piazza. Follow Loma, a curious young girl, as she tumbles into a mystical world filled with cheeky veli (forest spirits), towering giants, and powerful elemental forces. When one of her enchanted shoes is stolen, Loma sets off on a thrilling quest to get it back, joined by her hilarious sidekick Tui. With soaring aerial acrobatics, gravity-defying stunts, and laugh-out-loud moments, this heartwarming story is packed with wonder, mischief, and adventure. Joyful, bold, and full of heart, Fijian Flying Circus is a magical experience for the whole family – reminding us that courage, connection, and a little bit of play can take us anywhere.
Living Sculptures: How the birds got their colours
Village Green – Festival Village: continues to 9 September
Living Sculptures: How the birds got their colours is a stunning, Indigenous-led, contemporary performance piece fusing traditional First Nations dance, storytelling and contemporary circus. The work is a beautiful re-telling of the traditional Dreamtime story, which explores themes of belonging and delivers a powerful message of togetherness. While celebrating difference, the story teaches us that at our core, we share a common bond. Hosted outdoors in the Brisbane Festival Village, with the moving interplay between the Brisbane River and the sky above as a backdrop, this performance is perfect for all ages. A collaboration between ARC Circus and Luther Cora and his team from Yugambeh Aboriginal Dancers.
Koreaboo
Roundhouse Theatre – La Boite Theatre: continues to 19 September
Hannah had her trip all planned out. Travel to Korea. Visit her birth mother. Spend a golden summer creating precious memories. But when she arrives in Seoul reality hits hard. Her Umma works in a convenience store day and night, barely taking a break. She seems more interested in stacking shelves and re-arranging the garden gnome display than connecting with her long-lost Australian daughter. Hannah is Korean, yet in Umma’s mind, Hannah is a “Koreaboo” – a foreigner captivated by K-Pop, kimchi and hanboks. Armed with only Google Translate and unrelenting optimism, Hannah must try to find a place within Umma’s world before the end of a sweltering summer. Taking inspiration from real events in playwright Michelle Lim Davidson‘s life (The Feather in the Web, The Newsreader), this profound and heartfelt play marks the writing debut of one of Australia’s most beloved performers. Michelle herself takes to the stage under the direction of Jessica Arthur (The Dictionary of Lost Words), in a reunion story that reaches across continents, cultures and Spotify® playlists.
Piano Man
South Bank Town Hall – Festival Village: 9 – 26 September
Australia’s favourite piano man, Trevor Jones, brings his signature late night piano bar party to the Brisbane Festival. Request a song, sing along and enjoy special guests from the Festival and beyond. Every night is different and Trevor’s broad repertoire has something for everyone ranging from piano bar classics through recent pop hits, jazz standards and showtunes. Trevor is a regular performer at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival and in piano bars around the country as well as a guest entertainer on cruise ships. It’s the perfect way to finish your night at the Festival!
Strong is the New Pretty
Playhouse – QPAC: continues to 19 September
Suzie Miller, the celebrated Australian playwright behind sell-out smash hit RBG: Of Many, One and international phenomenon Prima Facie, turns her extraordinary talents to the historical formation of the AFLW in this world premiere. In 2010, an official report into the state of Australian Rules Football recommended the creation of a national women’s league. Seven years and a whole lot of grit, passion and fancy footwork later, the AFLW was born. This is the untold story of the extraordinary characters that took the league from a pipe dream to a sensation the sports world could no longer ignore. With her gift for docudrama and trademark insight and warmth, Miller joins forces with multi-award-winning director Sarah Giles. Get ready to barrack your heart out for a performance that promises a nail-biting match, not just for sport lovers but anyone looking to be uplifted by an inspiring story of determination, legacy and pride.
The Choir of Man
Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent – Festival Village: continues to 26 September
Direct from London’s West End, sensational singers perform stunning harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs, brimming with hits – all with a real bar on stage. Discover the international stage sensation featuring music from artists such as Queen, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Luther Vandross, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii, and Katy Perry, to name just a few. A wildly talented group of incredible instrumentalists, world-class wordsmiths and sensational singers – this cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys serve it all, live. An uplifting celebration of community and friendship, with something for everyone. Enjoy 75 minutes of foot-stomping entertainment unlike anything else – come drink in the ultimate feel-good show.
The Scramble
New Benner Theatre – Metro Arts: 16 – 19 September
Two men hit the mat with scrappy energy, in a charged physical duet where exertion, resistance and care collide. They twist, tussle, grapple and brace – toe to toe in a work of dance-meets-wrestling that bristles with male intimacy, contest, and connection. The Scramble thuds two men together in a rough-and-tumble match that gradually reveals something more tender and complex; an exploration of the complex ways men connect through touch. Between holds, breath becomes raw and ragged; limbs whirl; the rhythm breaks. Slipping from friend to foe to friend, they knock each other down, help each other up, and brace for the fight to start again. Created by Shaun Johnston in collaboration with performers Luther Wilson and Nathan Turtur, The Scramble is a compelling meditation on male vulnerability, intimacy and bravado – a celebration of the often silent and unseen ways men seek closeness through contact.
This Show is a Joke!
Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent – Festival Village: 20 – 26 September
How many LOLs can Australia’s favourite kids’ comedians squeeze into one hour? Let’s find out. Hold onto your cowpats! After nearly two decades of seriously silly nonsense, Matt and Rich (aka The Listies) have whipped up their most ridiculous show yet – a turbo-charged mash-up of fan favourites, slapstick, songs, and a fresh batch of brand-new, freshly hatched gags. It’s a comedy extravaganza for kidults aged 4 to 4 million (dinosaurs welcome). Expect: The world’s ugliest baby; The Solar System’s silliest cowboys; The Universe’s best toilet paper cannons; More bubbles than have ever existed in the history of history; Even more bananas; and Literally no exaggerations. Also a possible cameo from Batman (we texted him, fingers crossed). nIt’s sketch comedy for kids. It’s a variety show gone bananas. It’s the show that will have audiences saying: This Show Is a Joke!
Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking
Powerhouse Theatre – Brisbane Powerhouse: 10 – 13 September
Writer and Director of the acclaimed The Haka Party Incident, Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama), in association with Auckland Theatre Company, adapts the epic tale of Tiri Mahana, a 185-year-old matriarch, from her birth at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi to present-day Aotearoa. This bi-lingual retelling is drawn from the original play Woman Far Walking by Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Ngāti Porou), writer of the BAFTA and NZ Film Award winning film The Whale Rider. With award-winning actors Miriama McDowell (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) and Nī Dekkers-Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou), audiences are invited to a play for the whole whānau where Tiri wants us all to remember that the good things, the right things in life, are worth fighting for. Woven into a deeply emotional tapestry celebrating wāhine Māori and the emergent rangatahi who will take Aotearoa forward, Witi Ihimaera’s extraordinary play will shine once again in this astonishing new production.
The 2026 Brisbane Festival continues to 26 September. For more information and full program, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au for details.
Images: Festival Village South Bank – photo by Sean Dowling and Atmosphere Photography | Bleachers – photo by Thomas Oliver | Common People Dance Eisteddfod – photo by Joel Devereux | ESCAPE – photo by George Simian | Fijian Flying Circus – courtesy of VOU | Living Sculptures: How the birds got their colours – photo by Katie Bennett | Koreaboo – photo by David Kelly | Trevor Jones is the Piano Man – photo by Trentino Priori | Strong is the New Pretty – photo by Compadre Picture Co | The Choir of Man – photo by The Other Richard | The Scramble – photo by Andrea Mae |This Show is a Joke! by The Listies – photo by Andrew Wuttke | Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking – photo by Signy Bjorg