The Best Things to Do Around Brisbane This Long Weekend

There’s always a host of parties happening around Brisbane this Easter. Sometimes, though, don’t you just want to head out and relax? If you’re keen on sitting by Brisbane’s main waterway with a beverage in hand, and doing little more than kicking back, sipping creative novelty beverages and relaxing, then you should pop into Riverbar & Kitchen’s Easter Party.

The bar team will be whipping up a few special treats, including a ‘Gin ‘n Jam’ cocktail made from West Winds sabre gin, Aperol, rose jam, cranberry bitters, vanilla and egg whites — so you can totally claim it as an Easter-themed beverage.

The occasions may change, but whatever the date or festivities, the Brightside has partying Brisbanites covered. On April 16, they’re throwing an Easter Sunday shindig the only way the know how: with a few bevs and live tunes.

It’s the music that’s the main attraction at this ticketed gig, with Deez Nuts, Rare Words, ENDLESS and Valhalla Mist on the bill. That means things will be getting heavy with punk, rock and hardcore. After a couple of days of light relaxation and overindulgence, perhaps that’s just what you’ll be in the mood for.

When you were a kid, Easter Sunday meant stuffing your face with as much chocolate as you could. Just us? We know it wasn’t. But now you’re classed as an ‘adult’, there’s really nothing stopping you from an annual chocolate inhaling. Hey, who’s going to judge you?

Alternatively, you could indulge in five hours of canapes, frose, rose, Pimm’s Easter punch, champers — an all-day and eating and drinking extravaganza. Dalgety Public House has you covered with their Easter Sunday Bottomless Brunch. It’s a cool $95 per person, but it’ll be worth it. We’ve given this advice before, and we know we will again: wear something stretchy.

Whether abstaining from red meat is part of your beliefs, or munching on the ocean’s finest just sounds like your idea of a good time, the Regatta Hotel is the place to be this Good Friday. Seafood, seafood and then even more seafood will be on the menu at their three-course with drinks luncheon.

Enjoy seafood platters and glasses of Moët — which means prawns, fish and other delicious bites from the ocean aplenty — and then top it all off with an Easter-appropriate chocolate marquee served with chocolate soil, salted caramel, raspberries and pure cream. This mouthwatering feast will set you back $129 per person, but, c’mon, it sure beats a backyard barbecue.

It’s an event that has been six years in the making. Damon Albarn’s been busy with Blur, so we won’t hold the sizeable wait between albums against him. But hey, when you start a virtual band as a side project and people start listening, they’re going to want more music.

Bistrotheque’s Feel Good: Gorillaz Party could’ve happened before new tracks dropped, of course, but it just wouldn’t have felt good enough. Jump back and forth, and do more than feel like you were there yourself as Feels Club, Reckless and the Bistrotheque DJs take you to plastic beach and beyond.

Behold, the event that’ll separate the pinball wizards from the pinball muggles, and those talented as mashing buttons from the folks that are happy when they get flipping’ lucky. That’s what happens when Netherworld closes its doors to everyone except the devoted few — those eager to play pinball for 18 hours straight.

No wonder they’ve called the arcade marathon Death by Pinball. No sleep till pinball also would’ve worked. Those brave enough to attend will battle it out in matches over many rounds, fit in a few fun games from the bar’s array of machines in between, and get a prize if they survive the night.

Every year, come Good Friday, two things happen in Shorncliffe. Firstly, the sea-faring vessels competing in the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race sail by. Secondly, Bluewater Festival holds a party to celebrate.

Watching boats is on the agenda, however, given that the day starts with early morning yoga on the beach and ends with fireworks, there’s more than that on offer. Catch some live tunes, enjoy the sight of dragon boats, peruse market stalls, grab a bite from gourmet food vendors or just find a spot of grass to relax. That’s how you turn Good Friday into a great Friday.

Most cinemas don’t close over Easter, hurrah. It may feature a giant creature lumbering around Seoul, but Colossal isn’t your typical big predictable monster movie. In fact, there are plenty of refreshing ideas scurrying around within the latest film from writer-director Nacho Vigalondo, who previously taunted Elijah Wood through a computer in Open Windows, and now saddles Anne Hathaway with a lizard the size of a building. Come for the Godzilla-scale antics; stay for an insightful exploration of the destructive tendencies that lurk within us all, as well as an unexpected celebration of female empowerment.

Think you can’t go on an Easter egg hunt in a bar? Think again. Think you can’t go on an Easter egg hunt in a bar while drinking chocolate cocktails and listening to surf rock? Think again, again.

When Los Huevos take to the Junk Bar stage from 8pm on April 13, they’ll be leading the charge when it comes to tunes and chocolate — and making you feel like you should really be at the beach. If all that isn’t enough, apparently the evening’s special boozy beverage will taste like hot cross buns. Yum.

Hosting 24 events is nothing to be sneezed at. Hosting 24 evenings dedicated to the more artistic and experimental side of the music spectrum definitely isn’t. Yes, MONO is back for the 24th time, and this time it’s celebrating Terre Thaemlitz.

From 7pm on April 13, the Institute of Modern Art will play host to the producer, writer, public speaker, educator, audio remixer, DJ, record label owner and more, who is also known by the name DJ Sprinkles. Thaemlitz will continue to take a look at identity politics and the commerce of media — her continued topics of fascination — in one of MONO’s most anticipated performances.

Are beverages are on your long weekend agenda? Of course they are — and let The Scratch and Your Mates Brewing Co. help you kick off four days without work in quite the boozy style. The latter has a new dark ale. The former has a bar. Combine the two, and it’s a pre-Easter miracle.

As well as getting to taste the new tipple, everyone who heads along to Milton’s finest dive bar from 5pm on April 13 can also help come up with a title for the new brew. There’ll be free beer on offer, and more if you win the naming competition.