Five Romantic Brisbane Date Ideas for This Week From Budget to Blowout

This week, you and your plus one can choose between a brewery crawl, bottomless pasta and free movies.
Concrete Playground
March 18, 2024

Tired of the classic movie and dinner date night combo? Us too. That's why we're always on the hunt for new things to do, scouring the city for not-boring Brisbane activities — ones that are guaranteed to take your next date way beyond done-before beers at the pub.

Whether you're taking someone on a second date or doing your 100th with your significant other, we've got some killer (and, yes, cute) ideas for dates to go on this week, no matter how much money you've got to spend.

Just think of us as your cultural wingman. You're welcome.

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Free

Catch a Free Retro Movie in a Riverside Brewery

Here's the exceptional thing about being a movie-loving couple: you're never short on stuff to watch. And, because where you see something can have a big imprint on your viewing experience, you're rarely lacking great places to get your cinema fix. One of Brisbane's favourites: the city's riverside CBD brewery.

On Tuesday nights, thanks to its regular Cinema Sessions, Felons Brewing Co turns its Barrel Hall into a cinema and showing classic flicks — for free. From 7pm, you and your plus one can lock your eyes on the big screen and enjoy a movie fave, all without paying a cent.

You can also get comfy on a bean bag and reserve your seat at the same time; however, that part will cost you $25. That amount is redeemable on the night, though, on food and drinks. Either way, sipping beers with your movie isn't free unsurprisingly. There'll be cinema snacks on offer as well and, again, you'll need your wallet.

As for the films flickering across the screen, it's a retro lineup. The March bill includes Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Wedding Singer. Then, in April, catch Bridget Jones' Diary, Johnny English, The Fast and The Furious, Hot Fuzz and Notting Hill. May will kick off with Juno.

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Under $50

Hop Between Four Southside Beer Havens in One Afternoon

If you and your special someone like beer and you live in Brisbane, then you've probably noticed a trend in recent years. In fact, you've probably been making the most of it. That's to be expected when a certain patch of turf starts welcoming new drinking spots with frequency.

Thanks to Ballistic Beer Co and Hiker Brewing Concern in Salisbury, as well as Helios Brewing Company and Slipstream Brewing Company in Yeerongpilly, there's no shortage of breweries to have a beer at on the southside. And, while you've likely been hopping between them all anyway, Beermuda gives the area's boozy crawl an official spin. Head to any of the quartet from 1pm on Saturday, March 23, get sipping, then catch a courtesy bus to the other three — and drink more frothy ales at each, obviously.

Entry is free, and there'll also be food and live music at each brewery. Plus, you'll be able to just generally soak in the boozy Salisbury and Yeerongpilly vibes.

Beer-wise, there'll be more than 60 brews on offer — and each venue is doing its own thing with food and entertainment. Buses run from 1.30–7.30pm, starting at Helios, then hitting Ballistic, Hiker and Slipstream, then repeating.

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Under $100

Spend Two Hours Eating All the Pasta That You Can Handle

The only thing that's ever wrong with a delicious pasta meal is the fact that it ends. For two hours at Vici Italian three evenings a week, that's no longer a problem for you and your significant other. The South Bank spot has added bottomless pasta nights to its menu, where you can feast on all the bolognese, pomodoro and carbonara that you can handle — for $25, plus a drink purchase.

This special happens weekly, from Tuesday–Thursday to liven up your weeknights. Make a booking at 5pm or 7pm, then dig in. You can only choose between the three dishes, however, and everyone at your table has to partake.

The bolognese features crushed beef in a tomato sugo that's been slow cooked, and comes topped with parmesan on your choice of fettuccine or gnocchi. With the pomodoro, you'll be enjoying a slow-cooked tomato sauce with mascarpone and parmesan, again on the same types of pasta. And the carbonara boasts bacon, wild mushrooms, mascarpone cream sauce and parmesan on spaghetti.

Spend an extra $5 and you can opt for gluten-free pasta. And as for the drink that you need to buy to receive the deal, boozy options include raspberry negroni sours, yuzu spritzes, tiramisu martinis, pineapple daiquiris, Peroni on tap and a range of wines.

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Dive Into the World of Science at Brisbane's Annual Citywide Festival

When someone mentions staring at the stars, life on mars, the ocean's deeps, volcanoes or fossils, do you and your favourite person instantly start paying attention? Are futuristic visions your catnip? Do you love hearing smart people explore how everything works, and why? Being curious about the world we live in and beyond isn't just the realm of kids — and it's also the reason that World Science Festival exists, including until Sunday, March 24 in 2024.

If you're keen on installations and interactive creativity, WSFB's past fest-within-a-fest Curiocity Brisbane has evolved into the Art/Science program, swapping a trail of works for heroing large-scale pieces. One certain highlight is Karina Smigla-Bobinski's ADA, with the German Polish artist bringing the three-metre helium sphere to Australia for the first time. It's a piece that you can play with, pushing and spinning the globe — which comes covered in 300 charcoal spikes — to make impressions upon the surrounding walls.

Want to see sand rumble? Snooks+Harper and Philip Samartzis's Tectonic Resonance will allow just that using sand 3D printing and geophone recordings from the Pilbara region, all while musing on how humans use geological resources. Svenja Kratz and Bill Hart's Simulated Selves features an AI-filled room with two human forms representing the artists, and chatting with visitors. And with Drawing on Complexity: Experiment 9, Briony Barr wants attendees to contribute to a work that uses coloured paper tape. You'll add your own lines over eight days, helping to create patterns, as complex adaptive systems are in the spotlight.

Art's intersection with science is just one part of the full World Science Brisbane 2024 program, of course. Elsewhere across the Queensland Museum-hosted event, talks abound. A reliable headliner, physicist Professor Brian Greene is back, this time for a multimedia trip through the cosmos, diving into artificial intelligence and its implications for humanity, and chatting about what space rocks and moon rocks can tell us about the evolution of our solar system. And yes, the list only goes on from there.

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One Big Blowout:

Get Dancing at an R&B Festival

If you like new wave R&B, Souled Out is your next must-attend festival — especially if you're keen on seeing Summer Walker, PartyNextDoor and Tinashe live. This event's 2024 lineup also includes Bryson Tiller, Majid Jordan, Smino, Lucky Daye, Libianca and more, as part of a roster that balances well-known names, up-and-coming talent and local acts.

As you might've spotted, variety is a big focus among its tunes, with the fest's array of talent not just playing the same styles of R&B. As they hit the stage, they'll be playing tracks that span subgenres such as neo soul, trap soul and Afrobeats.

Walker's place on the bill is big news, given that it will be her first trip to Australia. As for PartyNextDoor, aka Jahron Anthony Brathwaite, his resume includes writing 'Work' for Rihanna.

Along with the rest of the lineup, Walker and PartyNextDoor will get behind the microphone on Saturday, March 23 at Doug Jennings Park on the Gold Coast. Also on the bill: DJs Joe Kay, Andre Power and Sasha Marie, who'll be spinning tracks away from the fest's main stage that work in 90s R&B favourites.

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Top image: Axis Productions.

Published on March 18, 2024 by Concrete Playground
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