Brisbane Festival Is Throwing a Free Garden Wedding for Eight LGBTIQ Couples

Eight months after Australian same-sex couples could first formally and legally tie the knot, Brisbane Festival is celebrating the occasion in an appropriate fashion — by throwing a free wedding for eight LGBTIQ pairs.

While Sydney Festival put together a huge reception earlier in the year, Brisbane's equivalent is going one better by hosting the actual nuptials. And, if you're a LGBTIQ couple looking to get hitched, you might just be able to take part.

Called Qweens on King, the Saturday, September 8 event is one of the three-week-long fest's opening celebrations for 2018, turning Bowen Hills' King Street precinct into a garden party filled with merriment and real-life matrimony.

Entries are now open for all interested parties, with winners saying 'I do' on stage before a celebrant named Gai Lemon, scoring a wedding party filled with Brisbane's queer performers, nabbing free wedding bands and receiving a $500 voucher towards holding their reception at adjacent food truck hangout Welcome to Bowen Hills.

Everything from the music to the flowers to the photographer has been arranged, with couples simply needing to register, make sure they're available on the date and pick their own outfits. Of course, if that sounds like your ideal way to spend your big day, you'll also need to be willing to share your happy moment with a considerable crowd.

"I'm hoping that the eight couples we find will represent a broad spectrum of personal experiences, from those who have been through the Bjelke-Petersen time when homosexual acts were still illegal, to newcomers and the multitude of various cultures within all those letters: L-G-B-T-I-Q-plus," says Brisbane Festival artistic director David Berthold.

The ceremony will also launch the 29th annual Brisbane Pride Festival, with Brisbane Pride vice president Michael James dubbing the event "a gathering of rainbow sophistication and flair".

Entries close at midnight on Sunday, July 22, with Qweens on King taking place on Saturday, September 8. To register, or for more information, check out the online application