Riverfire 2023

Overview

Brisbane Festival is back for 2023 throughout September, and it's returning with a bang — with Riverfire's fireworks, in fact. After moving the sky celebration to the beginning of its annual run in 2022, the citywide arts event is brightening up the heavens to start off spring again this year. Get ready to look up on Saturday, September 2.

The fireworks display has now settled into its new slot after a chaotic few years, which saw it scaled back in 2019, then replaced with a light and laser show in 2020 due to the pandemic, and finally returning in 2021. Initially, Riverfire moved dates to shift out of school holidays. No matter when it's held, more than 500,000 people usually attend.

If you've been to South Brisbane when it's on — even hours earlier — you will have seen the masses of people to prove how popular it is. Head anywhere with a decent vantage over the river and crowds await.

Need a few recommendations? River Terrace at Kangaroo Point is the number-one spot to hit up for the best panoramic view. There's also South Bank, of course, as well as the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, Captain Burke Park and Wilson's Lookout — plus the Riverside Centre and the City Botanic Gardens, too.

Even if fireworks aren't usually your thing, you might still be interested in the Riverfire shindigs that always pop up on the night, with bars around town usually throwing plenty of parties with quite the lit-up backdrop.

This Brisbane tradition will start its entertainment at 5pm this year, with the fireworks blasting from 7.05pm from 15 locations, which includes five barges, two bridges and eight city rooftops. The display fling up the most fireworks that the event has ever featured, weighing in at an 11-tone gross.