Overview
Brisbane loves an arts festival, and it has the jam-packed events calendar to prove it. Some take over the entire city in a huge way, like Brisbane Festival. Others showcase performances beyond the city's mainstream, as seen at Fringe Brisbane. One, aka Anywhere Festival, hosts shows anywhere and everywhere it possibly can. MELT celebrates queer culture, and Wynnum Fringe lives up to its name — giving Brisbane's bayside its own fringe festival.
That latter fest is upon us for another year, and it just keeps getting bigger. First staged in 2020 as a three day event, then returning in 2021 for six days, the festival is back for a third go in the seaside suburb. This time, it has almost three weeks of arts and culture on the lineup, running from Wednesday, November 16–Sunday, December 4.
At Wynnum Fringe 2022, you'll find everything from cabaret and comedy to music and dance on the bill, and even a ferris wheel. The event is aiming to entice 35,000 folks along across its 19-day run, so you'll also find ample company at a range of venues.
Highlights include the first-ever Wynnum Fringe Comedy Gala, with Mel Buttle, Damien Power, Luke Heggie and Chris Ryan taking to the microphone; more laughs from Dave Hughes, Akmal Saleh and Cal Wilson; and Marcia Hines getting her disco on in Velvet Rewired.
There's also opening ceremony yana marumba (Walk Good) as part of the First Nations programming, Dolly Diamond's variety show High T and a one-night-only gig by Diesel, as well as an all-ages amateur dance eisteddfod led by Common People Dance Project, Head First Acrobats' circus performances GODZ and Crème de la crème, Dane Simpson's Didgeridoozy and a local Battle of the Bands.
The 2022 festival also boasts a new garden hub at George Clayton Park, which is where Wynnum Fringe's spiegeltent will sit — and a ferris wheel, food trucks, pop-up daily gigs and roving entertainment. For drinks, the new fest base includes a cocktail-slinging container bar, too, complete with rooftop seating.
Throw in a fancy dress parade for dogs — and program themes that change weekly, starting with an Indigenous focus, then taking on Euro vibes, then going all in on local talent — and there's no shortage of things to see and do.
The aim, as with all Fringe fests, is to showcase a heap of talent and entertain the area.
"I am hugely proud of how Wynnum Fringe has grown from a three-day event in 2020 — developed as an economic and artistic response to COVID — to this year, welcoming more than 35,000 people over 19 days and celebrating the best in contemporary, independent and alternative arts and entertainment," said festival founder and director Tom Oliver.
Wynnum Fringe 2022 runs from Wednesday, November 16–Sunday, December 4. Head to the festival's website for the full program.