From Giant Lilies to Mini Queenslanders, This Is What Brisbane's Botanica Festival Looks Like in 2023

Nature's stunning sights never fail to impress in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, but all that greenery shines a little brighter when Botanica: Contemporary Art Outside hits town. For ten nights each year, this free luminous festival adds dazzling lights to the CBD spot's leafy inhabitants. From Friday, May 12–Sunday, May 21 in 2023, that means everything from glowing trees, spectacular structures, giant lilies and mini Queenslanders to a woven pavilion, a kaleidoscope of butterflies, porcelain leaves and hovering hills.

For newcomers to this annual after-dark art and light festival, it turns the inner-city patch of grass by the river into a radiant outdoor art gallery — and yes, taking full advantage of the night hours is one of its key elements. Running from 5–10pm daily, Botanica's fifth run will see the gardens will come alive with ten artworks, installations and projections responding to the theme "tread softly", including pieces from local, national and international artists livening up the already-scenic inner-city spot.

On the talent lineup: Phoebe Paradise, Theatre of Thunder and Keemon Williams, plus Slow Art Collective, Christian Reitano, Lyn Nagayama, Shelby Lee, Soma Lumia, Adriaan de Man, Mel Robson, Ellis Hutch, Lyn Haddon, Dan Luo and Weixin Huang, Together, they're all helping to give everything from the gardens' plant life to its furniture and buildings quite the vibrant makeover.

Also, with Noa Haim on the bill, Botanica features its first-ever international artist, in its latest step to cement itself as one of Brisbane's and Australia's top cultural events.

Among the highlights, Paradise's Foundation takes over the lower lagoon with a tribute to Brisbane's once-standard style of housing. With flickering lights, the artist imagines a vision of suburban Brisbane where extreme weather events have become mundane because they're so common.

Art collective Soma Lumia has contributed Vestigia Arborum, a light-based installation taking over a tree and responding to its visitors. The more people that view it, the more it will change, all while offering a reminder of how humanity impacts the planet.

Slow Art Collective's Slow Botanica Pavillion is another eye-catching piece, using weaving to build layers of colour via strings that attendees can knot, bind and connect to create patterns. And, there's also Haddon's Blue Butterfly Effect, which is where those robotic insects come in — resting on heritage-listed fig trees and glowing blue (and fluttering their wings) when people approach.

As for Haim, the Dutch architectural designer's addition to Botanica 2023 arrives in collaboration with fellow designer Adriaan de Man: Light Lilies, which takes its cues from the water lilies in gardens' lagoons. It also has an interactive element, with the work able to be deconstructed and rearranged, fashioning it into new guises.

All these shimmering sights — and more — are paired with twilight walks, performances, and a discovery trail for children. Visitors can also hit up food trucks and an outdoor bar nightly.

Of course, the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens has always been more than just that patch of grass and trees at the edge of the CBD thanks to its gorgeous greenery, ponds filled with cute turtles, free exercise classes and more — but it's never more alluring than during this fest.

Botanica: Contemporary Art Outside 2023 displays at the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens from Friday, May 12–Sunday, May 21. For more information, head to the Brisbane City Council website.

Images: Bec Taylor.