Why should humans get to have all the beer-drinking, bar-attending fun? If you have a pet pooch, you've probably spied the look in its eyes when you head out for a beverage, or the curiosity when you're sipping something at home. This March, booze hounds on all fronts unite for Brewsvegas. From 9am on Sunday, March 23, Newstead Brewing Co is throwing open the doors to its Milton digs to drinkers of the two- and four-legged kind. At Day of the Dog, you can enjoy a few brews with your pupper in tow — and there'll be live tunes, food and coffee stalls, too. You can also get your pooch's pic snapped thanks to the onsite photographer and purchase a pint from the karma keg, which'll be donating funds to Queensland Staffy and Amstaff Rescue. Cheers to that.
For the month of May, things are getting spooky, creepy, unnerving and unsettling at the Gallery of Modern Art's Australian Cinematheque. And downright old school, too. Between Friday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 29, one of the venue's big screens will be paying tribute to B movies of the kind they really don't make any more. First, a bit of history. Going to the cinema was usually a two-for-one affair between the 30s and 50s, with the main attraction paired with a second flick. And while the A movie could've been anything big, shiny and glossy, the B movie was typically some low-budget genre delight. As a result, when double features stopped being the norm, the term was still used to describe horror movies, sci-fi fare, creature features and the like. Instead of playing with other, higher-profile films, come the 60s they played at drive-ins and on TV late at night. All of the above should put you in the right frame of mind for GOMA's Beauty in the B Grade program, which is screening a heap of retro treasures. Among the notable names featured are icon Vincent Price, acting legend Steve McQueen, and filmmakers James Whale, Jacques Tourneur, William Castle and Roger Corman — with movies such as Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Blob, It Came From Beneath the Sea and Tarantula on the lineup, as well as House of Usher, Carnival of Souls and the original The Little Shop of Horrors. Films play on Wednesday and Friday nights, as well as Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Even better — they're free, and some are showing on imported 35mm prints.
The Williennium might've hit a whopping twenty years ago, but there's never a bad time to get jiggy wit' the Fresh Prince. And when you walk into this shindig, you just know there'll be plenty of party starters — and the room will shake, shake, shake, too. For one huge night, The Foundry is paying tribute to the music career of Will Smith, all thanks to a party it's fittingly calling Big Willie Style. Summertime might be over, but this event will be more than just cruisin' as it celebrates the three-time man in black. If you consider yourself a good guy, there's your dress code sorted. Entry is free, whether you're bringing the gang or just heading in with your bestie — and singing 'Just the Two Of Us' or Aladdin's 'Friend Like Me' in the process. The tunes start from 9pm, and expect the full spectrum of Smith's tracks, from his days with Jazzy Jeff to his solo hits.
If a trip to the markets is part of your regular Sunday routine, then this Brewsvegas event is for you — and, yes, the Sunday Brewer's Market comes with beverages. From 12pm on March 24, Ploughman Bar in Alderley is opening its doors to local craft brewers. Beer markets really are the best kind of markets, after all. When you're not browsing through a range of both home brewers and commercial breweries — including some top homegrown talent — you can also grab a few bites, peruse the arts and crafts offerings, and listen to live tunes. Entry is free, but bring your wallet for whatever you want to eat, drink and take home with you.
Brewsvegas is a time for drinking, eating and being merry. But if you don't partake in animal products, you might be apprehensive about joining the fun. Boozy meals, especially those focused around beers, often feature plenty of meat — which is what makes Eat No Evil stand out. Actually, it's just one highlight of the one-night dinner, which takes place from 7pm on Tuesday, March 19. The other big drawcard is that you won't simply be sitting in one spot and tucking into vegan dishes with matched brews. Instead, each of your four courses (and their accompanying drinks) will take you to a different venue. Start with canapes at Bosc, then head to Catchment Brewing Co for your entree, before moseying on over your Brisbane Brewing Co for mains. As for dessert, it'll take you to Archive Beer Boutique — and this West End walking tour, complete with vegan meals and beers, will set you back $80 per person.
Why drink at one watering hole, when you can head to two, three, six or more? That's always been the motivation behind everyone's favourite boozy journey, aka a pub crawl. And, it's the exact same type of thinking behind the Urban Wine Walk. Taking another wander around Brisbane, it's the bar-hopping excuse every vino lover needs — if you need an excuse, that is. From midday until 4.30pm on Saturday, May 11, you'll saunter around Fortitude Valley — and between the likes of Cloudland, Proud Henry, Gerard's Bar, Bloodhound Bar, Mr Chester, TSO Lounge and Dining, City Winery and more — sampling wines and having a mighty fine time. As for the tipples, they'll be taken care of by a heap of top wineries, so prepare to get supping. Tickets cost $65, go on sale from 12pm on Tuesday, March 12, and places are limited. This moving cellar door will not only serve up more than 35 wine tastings, but also your own tasting glass — plus a voucher for another beverage, and a guide to help you plan your mosey between bars.
Can you solve a good mystery? Or spark one? Channel your inner Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard or Mrs Peacock, roam around a bar looking for the conservatory, cellar and billiard room, and be wary of candlesticks, lead pipes and spanners. That's what Cluedo! The Interactive Game is all about when it sets heads to Baedeker for a month-long run, and we mean that literally. Held on select dates between Wednesday, April 17 and Saturday, May 25, each night will double as a lavish 1930s dinner and cocktail party complete with hidden rooms, enigmatic guests and plenty of secrets. In a theatrical reimagining of the ace board game, you'll solve puzzles, find clues and try to work out who did the deed all while you're eating and drinking. Previous seasons have proven mighty popular, because everyone loves a Cluedo-themed shows. We'll call it a case of murder mystery board game fever. Image: Baedeker.
For their latest excuse to eat, drink and be merry, the Treasury Casino is taking inspiration from Australia's south. Over one cheese and wine-filled evening, the CBD hotspot will be serving up the best dairy and vino that Victoria and South Australia have to offer. Yep, between 5pm and 8pm on Friday, March 8, your tastebuds will think they've ventured to the other end of the country, thanks to a lineup of wares from the Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and more. Your wallet, however, will thank you — sip and sample away for three hours for $59 per person. The tastiness takes place in the Treasury's courtyard, so expect a starry backdrop and some live music as well. And if you're feeling extra peckish, there'll be antipasto, charcuterie, assorted dips and artisan breads too — or, you could just dive deep into as much cheese as you can.
Once, not that long ago, Brisbane had never played host to a gin festival. Now, that's definitely no longer the case. They seem to pop up every few months, alongside plenty of other regular gin-focused nights, gatherings and parties. We do have several bars solely focused on gin in this city of ours, after all. They all have one thing in common, of course: oh-so-many juniper spirits. And another: oh-so-many G&Ts. That's exactly what's on the menu at the latest gin-fuelled addition to the fold, aka Pig 'n' Whistle Brunswick Street's Ginfused Festival. Originally scheduled to take place in February, but rescheduled to 11am–6pm on Saturday, March 30 thanks to bad weather, this patch of the Valley will become a gin mecca — complete with plenty of artisanal gins, a heap of cheese and charcuterie to help soak up the botanical booze, free cocktail masterclasses and live music. Distilleries including Tanqueray, Nosferatau, Jinzu, Gordon's Pink, Ink and more will be slinging drinks, and entry is free. You can also purchase a $35 package in advance, which includes a drink token and a charcuterie board.
One side of the skinny space at The Dark Chocolatier on Adelaide Street is stacked eye-level to floor with little wooden crates holding everything from the pick and mix to small slabs and rocky road. All chocolate is made at the factory in, you guessed it, Noosa by a small team. Worth a sweet $4.50 per 100g, our top picks include the dark chocolate coated freeze-dried strawberries (have to be tasted the be believed), milk chocolate hazelnuts, dark cocoa-dusted almonds, dark chocolate blueberries and the mango-infused white chocolate coated macadamias.
It may come as a surprise but boutique fashion-cafe Denim Co. in South Bank has one of the best acai bowls going round. With a serious dose of acai (thank goodness, because after serious sampling one can tell when places are stinging out on the good stuff) the bowl, or rather, hipster-jar-complete-with-denim-bow-embellishment is both rich in colour and flavour. Tangy and refreshing it comes finished with Irrewarra granola on top (or accommodatingly switched for a crumbled cranberry bliss ball and slivered almonds). A pure winner in every sense.
Located in an ordinary stretch of shops in Jindalee, Piggy Back Cafe mightn't look like it stands out; however its vibrantly coloured menu ensures that's not actually the case. The daytime eatery has fast become the suburb's worst-kept secret thanks to a particular offering that has taken over every Instagram feed in city: rainbow foam-topped coffees. At the first west-side venture from the folks behind Picnic and Pawpaw on the other side of town, there's no such thing as a boring old cuppa; instead, their caffeinated hits will brighten up your cup and your day. That extends to a red velvet variety, though you don't have to be a coffee fiend to jump on that trend. Red velvet shake or red velvet French toast with bacon, anyone? Yep, you'll be too busy taking pics to actually eat and drink anything you order, with Piggy Back's snap-worth selections only continuing. The eggs Benny comes with pulled pork, smashed avo gets the matcha treatment, every acai bowl features an explosion of different tones and textures — and here, breakfast salad is most definitely a thing. Plus, cakes, doughnuts and special dessert nights take care of any cravings for morsels that both look and taste sweet.
If there's one thing no one ever gets sick of, it's burgers, which suits the trend currently sweeping Brisbane rather nicely. Taking over the space where the Villager used to be, Miss Kay's is the latest place to offer a menu overflowing with meat and bread products (and veggie patties, too, a significant proportion of you will be pleased to hear). If this is your idea of a tasty meal, then you'll want to stop by. Open for lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday, the city's newest burger bar boasts all the usual suspects, from good ol' fashioned cheeseburgers to sides of fries and onion rings. They also offer a few options you'll want to try just based on their names alone. Who wouldn't want to eat a Ludakrisp (a burger with crispy fried chicken) or a Mac Daddy (a burger with mac and cheese — yes really). As always, the food is only part of the fun, with Miss Kay's an ideal spot for an after-work drink or several. Live entertainment helps set the mood, and they even have alcoholic ginger beer on tap, plus a range of 'jartinis' in flavours like spiced bacon maple sour. Yum.
Finding a host of tasty Indian dishes in Brisbane isn't hard to do, but finding healthy yet hearty meals is another matter. Boasting vegan as well as gluten-, nut- and dairy-free options, that's the gap It's Mirchi Healthy Indian Restaurant hopes to fill from its base on Paddington's busy Given Terrace. Even a quick glance at their menu shows that they're on the right track. Dining wise, whether eating in or taking away, that includes nutritious takes on all the usual curries, complete with a choice of free-range chicken and organic lamb. Salad and vegetarian concoctions comprise a substantial portion of their offerings, alongside snacks such as roasted — rather than fried — poppadoms, and the delicious delight that is their avocado milkshake. It's not all about the food at It's Mirchi, though, with the figure behind the feast just as important as what she's cooking up. One of Australia's finest female Indian chefs, Urvashi, heads up the restaurant's kitchen in a departure from the typically male-oriented profession — and she's not just defying convention but sharing recipes handed down from her mother. That sounds like boundary-breaking, wellbeing-friendly yumminess.
Mark your calendar: if you like free ice cream, as everyone should, then you have a date with a Ben & Jerry's store in April. Each year, the dessert brand chooses one day per year to give everyone a treat without paying a cent. In 2024, that day is Tuesday, April 16. If there's one thing this chain loves above all else, it's the obvious: ice cream in a huge array of ridiculously named flavours. It's the brand behind Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, Phish Food and The Tonight Dough — and has been responsible for Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yoghurt, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream and Schweddy Balls, too. But, to the delight of your sweet treat-loving tastebuds, on Free Cone Day it loves giving away free scoops just as much. The occasion is exactly what it sounds like: a day where your ice cream is on the house. It ran annually since 1979 until the pandemic, then took a break for obvious reasons — returning in 2023 for the first time since 2019, and now backing it up in 2024. Here's how it works: if you adore ice cream as much as Ben & Jerry's adores ice cream, then you just need to hit up your local participating store (which is most stores) between 12–8pm. You can choose whichever flavour you like, and you can also line up for a free cone as many times as you like within that eight-hour period. Free Cone Day is happening Australia-wide — worldwide, too, in more than 35 countries — at both Ben & Jerry's Scoop Stores and its Hoyts outlets. In Queensland, head to South Brisbane for starters — as well as Burleigh Heads, Mooloolaba, Noosa Heads and Hoyts Sunnybank.
Adrenaline isn't a standard part of a boozy brunch. No one's pulse is normally racing as they knock back drinks over a mid-morning meal on a leisurely weekend; instead, cruisy vibes are usually on offer. But Vertigo's new Sunday brunch isn't any old brunch, because this Brisbane Powerhouse restaurant isn't any old restaurant — it's located off the side of the New Farm arts venue, 17 metres above the ground. Announced in August 2023, then opening in October the same year, Vertigo is an Australian-first vertical dining experience. A meal here means climbing out to your seat while donning a safety harness, then eating four stories up. Initially, you could only head by for sky-high dinners Thursday–Sunday weekly, but now Vertigo has added champagne brunches on Sunday mornings from 10am to its lineup. On the menu: champagne once you sit down, then fresh fruit and croissants to start. Next, you'll pick between a porchetta and asiago toasted sandwich, spanner crab Spanish omelette, and avocado on sourdough with lime and goat's curd. This brunch features dessert, too, via a death by chocolate flourless torte. You'll also wrap up your time towering over Lamington Street with a coffee. Then comes the second adventurous bit: abseiling off the edge of the building to descent to earth. Once you're back on the ground, you'll sip an Aperol spritz to finish off the experience. The whole thing costs $250, with food provided by fellow Brisbane Powerhouse eatery Bar Alto. Whether you're always on the hunt for new ways to fill your calendar, can't go past a meal with a view, are keen to indulge your adrenaline-junkie side any way that you can or want to see Brisbane from a different perspective, you can tick every box at the riverside venue hanging off Brisbane Powerhouse's industrial facade — satisfying your tastebuds and your stomach while getting your blood pumping. Vertigo's levelled-up meals welcome in tables of two to peer out over Brisbane. There is a big caveat, however, with the restaurant at the mercy of the weather. Something else to note: although you'll get a glass of champers when you sit down, you can't head up if you've been drinking, with everyone breathalysed first and required to return a 0.00-percent blood alcohol reading.
Brisbanites, prepare to get hopelessly devoted — again — to Rydell High, summer lovers reuniting at school, leather jackets and Pink Ladies. Because giving Grease a prequel streaming series in 2023 wasn't enough, the 50s-set musical is returning to its original home, with Australia's brand-new multimillion-dollar theatre production of the five-decade-old show set to be the one that Brissie audiences want from Friday, January 3, 2025. Grease is shaping up to be the River City's big electrifying summer hit, zipping into the Queensland capital's QPAC like lightening. This is the fourth stop on the show's current Aussie tour, with the production playing Melbourne, Sydney and Perth before arriving in Brisbane. Everyone knows Grease's plot by now, given how popular the 1978 movie adaptation of the musical rom-com still is, especially Down Under. It is about an Australian transfer student, after all, who falls in love with an American high schooler in California. After it sped from the stage to become a silver-screen classic, it spawned a 1982 Michelle Pfeiffer (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)-starring sequel, too, then 2023's Paramount+ show Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. Just as John Travolta (Paradise City) and the late, great Olivia Newton-John (The Very Excellent Mr Crocodile Dundee) once did as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, the Brisbane cast have leathers to slip into. Patti Newton plays Miss Lynch, Bobby Fox is Vince Fontaine and Marcia Hines will pop up as Teen Angel. The new batch of T-Birds and Pink Ladies in Brissie will obviously be belting out all the famous tunes — including the titular 'Grease' and fellow earworms 'Summer Nights', 'Sandy', 'Hopelessly Devoted to You', 'You're The One That I Want', 'Greased Lightnin' and 'Beauty School Dropout'. Images: Jeff Busby.
If summer screams ice cream to you, then there's only one way to start the season: indulging in your favourite frosty treat. That's great advice in general, but gelato chain Gelatissimo has an even better spin on it. Hit up one of its 48 stores around the country from 5pm until closing time and you'll nab $3 scoops. The date: Friday, December 1. The place: at all Brisbane Gelatissimo shops. The offer: creamy gelato for just a couple of gold coins, all to celebrate the official start of the warm weather and indulge in a dessert staple. The deal stacks, too, so you can get a double scoop for $6. Friday, December 1 also happens to be the day that Gelatissimo is releasing its latest limited-edition flavours, which you can try for just $3 a pop as well. Get ready for cookies and cream made with Milkybar, a mint version but made with KitKat and a blue take.
In 2022, theatre production company Prospero Arts gave Brisbane a song-filled tribute to one of the best movie musicals ever made, bringing Singin' in the Rain to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre as an onstage concert. How does anyone manage to back that up? With another huge show for 2023, also offering up an ode to a big-screen favourite overflowing with beloved and well-known songs: The Wizard of Oz. This winter, consider QPAC's Concert Hall somewhere over the rainbow. You'll be off to see the wizard there, too. There's never a bad time to pop on your ruby slippers, and hasn't been for the past 84 years since the page-to-screen hit first reached cinemas — but this instance is all about the music. No one will be acting out the storyline, but you will hear all of the tracks that everyone has stuck in their head forever, including Oscar-winner 'Over the Rainbow', 'We're Off to See the Wizard', 'Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead', 'If I Only Had a Brain' and 'The Merry Old Land of Oz'. As The Wizard of Oz — In Concert's talents sing under the direction of Amy Campbell, an onstage orchestra will play the film's score — which also won an Academy Award. For those who've somehow missed the 1939 classic flick so far, it adapts the 1900 novel The Wonderful World of Oz by L Frank Baum. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland in the movie) and her little dog Toto are whisked off from her Kansas farm to the titular realm, where she needs to avoid the Wicked Witch of the West — and find the eponymous wizard to make it home. To locate the latter, a stroll down the yellow brick road with the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion is on the agenda. Running from Friday, June 30–Sunday, July 2, The Wizard of Oz — In Concert will put on five shows across its three-day season.
Since February, Brisbane Powerhouse has been home to the River City's latest festival: ΩHM (pronounced "ohm"). Filled with music and art, it's all about pushing the boundaries while celebrating sound, tunes and performance — a "festival of other music" is what the New Farm venue has badged it, too, and fittingly. Thanks to a program curated by Room40's Lawrence English alongside Brisbane Powerhouse Arts Program Director Brad Spolding, ΩHM hasn't been lacking in highlights; however, its triple bill on Friday, March 31 with Robin Fox, Yann Novak and mHz promises something truly special. Audiovisual artist Fox, Los Angeles-based composer Novak and Iranian sound artist mHz are teaming up for a night showcasing three stunning large-scale audiovisual creations. [caption id="attachment_880278" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Yann Novak[/caption] Accordingly, the evening will host the Australian premiere of Fox's Triptych straight from UNSOUND KRAKOW, featuring three RGB laser projectors working in synchronicity. If you've seen his past works — Night Sky for Brisbane Festival, Aqua Luma for Mona Foma 2021, BEACON for Mona Foma 2022 and MONOCHORD for Rising Festival 2022, for instance — you'll know you're in for something special. As for Novak, he'll be using sound and light to explore how both can focus one's awareness on their experiences, as informed by his partial colour blindness and dyslexia. And, the New Zealand-based mHz will take inspiration from material and architecture to hone in on sound and light production. [caption id="attachment_895200" align="alignnone" width="1920"] mHz[/caption] Top image: Robin Fox, Single Origin, Diego Figueroa.
When Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or in 2019, it became the second movie in as many years to nab the coveted prize for exploring class and wealth inequality through a tale of family. The year prior, when Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters scored the same gong, it too examined the ties that bind, plus the societal circumstances that conspire against and complicate such bonds. Indeed, that's the Japanese filmmaker's favourite subject. In a career spanning over three decades, he keeps being drawn to people who are drawn together, sometimes by biology and sometimes because that's simply the hand that fate has played in shaping a makeshift brood. It's fitting, then, that Kore-eda's latest Broker — his second feature since that big win — stays true to his go-to topic while also starring Parasite's Song Kang-ho. This is Kore-eda's first South Korean film, following 2019's French and English The Truth, which was his first non-Japanese picture. This is vintage Kore-eda, in fact, and it's warm, wise, wonderful, canny and complex. No matter how his on-screen families come to be, if there's any actual blood between them, whether they're grifting in some way or where in the world they're located, the Japanese writer/director's work has become so beloved — so magnificent, too — due to his care and sincerity. A Kore-eda film is a film of immense empathy and, like Like Father, Like Son, Our Little Sister, After the Storm and The Third Murder also in the prolific talent's past decade, Broker is no different. The setup here is one of the filmmaker's murkiest, with the feature's name referring to the baby trade. But showing compassion and humanity isn't up for debate in Kore-eda's approach. He judges the reality of modern-day life that leads his characters to their actions, but doesn't judge his central figures. In the process, he makes poignant melodramas that are also deep and thoughtful character studies, and that get to the heart of the globe's ills like the most cutting slices of social realism. It isn't just to make a buck that debt-ridden laundromat owner Sang-hyun (Song, Emergency Declaration) and orphanage-raised Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won, Peninsula) take infants abandoned to the Busan Family Church's 'baby box' — a chute that's exactly what it sounds like, available to mothers who know they can't embrace that part for whatever reason — then find good families to sell them to. There's a cash component, of course, but they're convinced that their gambit is better than letting children languish in the state system. In Kore-eda's usual kindhearted manner, Broker sees them with sensitivity. Even if blue hues didn't wash through the film's frames, nothing is ever black and white in the director's movies. The same understanding and tenderness flows towards mothers like So-young (Lee Ji-eun, Hotel Del Luna, aka K-Pop star IU), whose decision to leave Woo-sung (debutant Park Ji-yong) isn't easily made but puts Broker on its course. It's on a rainy night that So-young farewells Woo-sung, placing him gently in the hatch packed with blankets and soundtracked by lullabies, and leaving a note to say that she'll be back to claim him. She's nervous and tentative, peering around to see if anyone is watching — astutely so, because two groups are waiting on her significant choice. The traffickers have their plan to enact, while detectives Su-jin (Doona Bae, The Silent Sea) and Lee (Lee Joo-young, Rose Mansion) are keen to catch them. Muddying matters for both: unlike what usually happens in this situation, So-young does genuinely return for her baby. So sparks a road trip with Sang-hyun, Dong-soo and football-loving seven-year-old Hae-jin (first-timer Seung-soo Im), a runaway orphan, to meet Woo-sung's prospective adoptive parents, all with the cops on their trail as part of a six-month investigation. Broker's plot is never straightforward, nor are the questions it incites — questions about what family truly means, what governments say it's supposed to and why a ragtag group of outsiders can find a greater sense of belonging together on the run than anywhere else. Without offering any simple justifications, answers or solutions, Kore-eda ensures that the factors that lead So-young to the baby box, and Sang-hyun and Dong-soo to the illicit adoption market, constantly demand the audience's attention. "This car is filled with liars," Dong-soo says mid-trip, but it's the why behind that statement that sits at Broker's core. Like in Shoplifters before it, Kore-eda queries the forces that've made his characters who they are, brought them to this juncture and meant that the choices they're making feel like the only ones they can. Here, that includes pondering expectations placed upon women whether or not they're mums, the baggage attached to motherhood, the alternatives to baby boxes, and the stark truth that bringing life into the world and having a family aren't the same things. If he'd decided that literature rather than cinema was his medium of choice, there's no doubting that Kore-eda would've made an excellent novelist. His plots are that layered, perceptive, generous, emotional and involving. Also, in his TV adaptation The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, one of 2023's streaming delights, he showed that he's equally as skilled at bringing tales from the page to the screen. But filmmaking is clearly Kore-eda's calling — and he's such a masterful visual storyteller, not to mention an affectionate movie craftsman, that it's forever plain to see why. Enlisting the great South Korean cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, a veteran not just of the aforementioned Parasite but also Bong's Snowpiercer and Mother, Na Hong-jin's 2016 standout The Wailing and Lee Chang-dong's sublime Burning from 2018, he gives Broker an earthy, lived-in, clear-eyed and yet eternally hopeful look. Falling rain, cramped rooms, cosy car rides, sprawling countryside, everyday phone calls: this film, and Kore-eda and Hong, make each one stun and say, well, everything. Broker's score by Jung Jae-il (another Parasite alum, and also Squid Game's composer) — plus the movie's spectacular use of Amy Mann's 'Wise Up' on its soundtrack, nods to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and all — are just as impressively and attentively fashioned. Nothing quite makes a Kore-eda feature what it is like his way with casting, though, pairing his empathetic stories with actors who gracefully live and breathe the same trait under his gaze. Accordingly, Kore-eda and the always-exceptional Song are a match made in cinematic heaven; it's no wonder that the latter deservedly earned Cannes' 2022 Best Actor prize for his latest phenomenal performance as a complex patriarch-type. Kore-eda and Bae is just as sterling a duo, too, especially when it comes to conveying yearning within this already bittersweet tale. Every heartfelt portrayal in Broker gets its audience feeling, however, including the scene-stealing Lee as a woman facing impossible choices, and pivotal baby Park.
When it rolls around each year, Eat Local Week serves up a massive incentive to wander through southeast Queensland's Scenic Rim, showcasing the absolute best in food and drink — and related experiences — that the region has to offer. Can't manage to fit in a trip south across its usual nine-day run? Always wanted to head along, but the end-of-June dates haven't worked? In 2023, there's a solution: expanding the festival to take place over a whole month. Goodbye Eat Local Week, hello Eat Local Month — which'll run from Thursday, June 1–Sunday, July 2. That actually means that it'll span across a huge 32 days this year. The festival turns 12 in 2023, and taking over an entire month is an ace way to mark the occasion. This year's Eat Local Month lineup still involves exploring, eating and drinking — all while showcasing Scenic Rim produce and the people behind it. 2023's bill spans 139 events at a range of locations, and also in a region that was named one of the best places to visit in 2022. On offer: 37 long lunches, degustations and dinners; 43 workshops and classes; and 37 tours and experiences. And more, spanning both new additions to the lineup and returning favourites, including an array of 'meet the producer' events. Making a comeback this year is the beloved winter harvest festival, which will feature 70-plus stalls, complete with camel milk products and carrot ice cream. Still on those orange-coloured vegetables, the usual day dedicated to them is back as well, and you'll even be able to pull them up out of the soil. Elsewhere, attendees can look forward to a degustation dinner at Witches Falls Winery on Tamborine Mountain; Copperhead Restaurant's first sunset soiree; and Floravesence — An Evening in the Flowers, which will take place on Elderflower Farm's flower field, and feature floral-leaning Cauldron Distillery cocktails. Or, there's a Mediterranean long-table feast in the olive grove at Olive View Estate, and the broader fest's inaugural fermented food festival — which is all about pickling and the like. Gin-blending classes, edible-flower picking sessions (and then using said blooms to decorate cupcakes), rainforest picnics, burgers and beer on the grass, a three-course feast heroing native ingredients, truffles aplenty, sunset cocktails: they're all on the agenda, too. Top image: Glenn Hunt. Updated April 20.
If you're serious about bacon, then there's only one place to be over the weekend of Friday, August 18–Sunday, August 20. That's the town of Kingaroy, about two-and-a-half hours north-west of Brisbane. As it does every year, it's dedicating three whole days to one glorious type of foodstuff. Whether you're keen on eating it or buying a heap of it, if there's bacon involved, it's on offer during Kingaroy BaconFest. Browse the bacon market, watch bacon cooking demonstrations, catch pork masterclasses or try your hand at the tastiest eating contest there is. Yes, it's about bacon, obviously. Getting cooking: headlining chef Miguel Maestre, plus Alastair McLeod leading the Ready, Steady... Bacon food series. There'll also be a big bacon breakfast and a wine-and-swine party. Live music is also on the bill, plus bacon ice cream. And, you can get jogging at the running event called Rasher's Fun Run, then have your tastebuds tempted again a barbecue pork smoke-off competition. [caption id="attachment_854893" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nancy Jayde Photography[/caption] Updated June 19.
Talk about a perfect name: if you're going to start a new music festival that revolves around The Smashing Pumpkins, then calling it The World Is a Vampire is a no-brainer. This exciting addition to Australia's festival scene is being sent to drain all of your attention this autumn, when it heads around the country with one helluva bill. Billy Corgan and his band members will be there, of course, and so will fellow alt-rock legends Jane's Addiction. Naturally, you can expect the rollicking classic that is 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings' to get a spin. As well as hearing fellow Pumpkins greats such as 'Disarm', '1979', 'Tonight, Tonight', 'Today' and 'Zero', the Perry Farrell-led Jane's Addiction will be on hand to bust out 'Been Caught Stealing', 'Jane Says' and the likes. How many 'Zero' shirts will you see at the fest? Oh so many, as at every Pumpkins gig. Also on the bill: Australia's own Amyl and The Sniffers, RedHook and Battlesnake, plus yet-to-be-announced local acts opening each stop. And this fest has stops. It'll be singing about rage and rats in cages at Eatons Hill Hotel on Saturday, April 15 and at Bribie Island's Sandstone Point Hotel on Sunday, April 16 — and also heading to the Gold Coast as well. Each show also features professional wrestling, including matches between Billy Corgan's NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) and the WAOA (Wrestling Alliance of Australia). Wrestlers will take to the ring in-between the bands — and yes, Corgan does own the alliance that bears his name.
There's never a bad time to stick your nose in a book or several at the University of Queensland; however, when the UQ Alumni Book Fair pops up, it's a better time than most. That's on the agenda from Friday, April 28–Monday, May 1, and it isn't just an excuse to fill your shelves with future reading material — from Wednesday, April 26–Friday, April 28, it's also a reason to tuck into an impressive meal. For three days only, to celebrate UQ's Rare Book Auction — which takes place as part of the book fair — St Lucia restaurant Patina at Alumni Court is whipping up a few special dishes. Executive Chef John Offenhauser is picking from two of the best-selling cookbooks of the 18th and 19th centuries: Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cooking, Made Plain and Easy from 1747 and Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management from 1861. On the menu is a 276-year-old caramelised rice pudding recipe found in Glasse's tome, as well as a 162-year-old salmon recipe — which features caper sauce and asparagus — from Beeton. Tuck in and you'll be tasting history, with the dishes available from 11.30am–2pm each day. Keen on making them yourself? Those two books are up for grabs themselves at the auction. You might need deep pockets to add them to your kitchen shelves, but you will be helping raise money for scholarships to support UQ students.
Marco Pierre White is a star of kitchens and screens alike. He was the first British chef — and the youngest chef at the time — to be awarded three Michelin stars. He's popped up on everything from Hell's Kitchen to MasterChef, including in Australia. Back in 2019, he was one of Melbourne Good Food Month's huge headliners. He's also the culinary force behind cookbook White Heat, the 1990 tome that played up his "bad boy" image. He's been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" as well. And, he's trained fellow famed food figures such as Mario Batali, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Curtis Stone. That's a brief run through White's resume, but you're best to hear the full details — and the ups and downs that've come with being White — from the chef himself. So, in May, the culinary whiz is touring Australia's east coast capitals with his first-ever live theatre show. Heading to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday, May 23, White's Out of the Kitchen gigs will chat through his beginnings, his training and his stardom, plus the kind of success that led to his "enfant terrible" label. That means hearing about his arrival in London with just "£7.36, a box of books and a bag of clothes", and his tutelage under Albert and Michael Roux at renowned French fine-diner Le Gavroche. And, there's nabbing those three Michelin stars at the age of 33, of course.
Once a year, Monster Fest treats cinemagoers to a weird and wonderful film festival filled with genre and cult movies — but that's obviously not often enough. So, behold Monster Fest Weekender, aka the fest that the Monster team hosts midyear when it's not rolling out the full shindig. Hitting Sydney's Event Cinemas Myer Centre from Friday, July 14–Sunday, July 16, this three-day affair has an added focus in 2023. Get ready to peer out of blue and red lenses, because every movie on the lineup is showing in 3D. No, none of them are Avatar. Yes, they're all horror flicks. As well as being the first time Monster Fest has focused on giving every title it's screening an extra dimension, it's also the first time that the event has solely programmed classics. The fun starts with a tenth-anniversary session of Texas Chainsaw 3D, which is playing Aussie cinemas for the first time. After that Amityville 3D celebrates its 40th anniversary, while the Vincent Price-starring House of Wax — the first colour 3D film from a major studio — notches up 70 years. Monster Fest Weekender's 3D lineup also includes Andy Warhol's Flesh for Frankenstein 3D, remake My Bloody Valentine 3D and direct-to-video 1984 effort Silent Madness 3D — the latter of which is similarly making its big-screen Australian debut.
If you're a dog person, being surrounded by wagging tails and beaming pooch faces is one of the happiest feelings in the world. Here's another: doing your part to assist animals in need. Each year — a pandemic hiatus aside — the RSPCA's Million Paws Walk combines the two, asking Brisbanites and their puppers to go for a stroll to help raise funds for an obviously extremely worth cause. Come Sunday, May 28, this endorphin-sparking mosey returns for 2023, taking over the Forgan Smith Lawn at the University of Queensland in St Lucia. Whether you're keen to dress up for the occasion — in a matching outfit to your four-legged bestie, of course — or just pop on your sneakers and usual workout attire, then join in from 10am (with registrations from 8.30am). Entry costs $35 for adults and $30 for concessions, with the money raised going towards RSPCA Queensland's work rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals. In addition to the exercise, you and Rover can browse a heap stalls afterwards, listen to live tunes and grab a bite to eat from food trucks. There's also dog competitions and games as well. Can't make it to UQ? Check out the full list of venues around Queensland. Top image: Call of the Wild Pet Photography.
Ever wanted to see your favourite bands kick a few goals, and help support a good cause at the same time? For more than a quarter-century, the Reclink Community Cup has been turning musos into footy players for an annual charity Aussie rules match. Before the pandemic, the Melbourne game would draw more than 10,000 people and raise over $100,000 each year. Sydney's match had been going strong for years too — and the cup finally came to Brisbane in 2016 (if you're wondering, the musos took it out). Now, for Brisbanites, the Reclink Community Cup is back again for another round. Come Sunday, July 30, the city's music community will descend upon Enoggera Memorial Park to put their sporting prowess to the test. Two teams will take to the field: The Rocking Horses, featuring players from an array of Brissie acts; and the Brisbane Lines, filled with a crew of journos, industry staff general music-related folks. The complete list of exactly who'll be donning guernseys for both groups hasn't yet been revealed, but members of Powderfinger and The Church, Dead Letter Circus, WAAX, CLEA, Shag Rock, Melaleuca, Whalehouse, Tape/Off and Flangipanis played for the musos in 2022. Usually, staff from 4ZZZ, the ABC, street press, Oztix and QMusic make up the opposition team. [caption id="attachment_856675" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Allan Allport[/caption] The Community Cup isn't just about getting another dose of the live AFL action, though (as ace as the prospect of more footy always is). Given that rock stars are involved, live music is part of the proceedings as well, with the bill also set to be announced. And, food-wise, expect food trucks ready to fill your ravenous stomachs, plus bars to quench your thirst. Watching bands play both music and footy is hungry work, after all — and goes down well with a cold one. Every dollar raised from ticketing goes towards Reclink's efforts to improve the lives of Queenslanders suffering from disability, homelessness, substance abuse and economic hardship through participation in sport and the arts. Yep, whoever emerges victorious from the game, a heap of deserving folks will be the real winners. Images: Allan Allport.
Maybe you really love Patrick Swayze. Perhaps you just need some more terracotta or ceramics in your life. Or, the idea of pottering around a clay-based showcase and finding pottery pieces — for yourself or as gifts — could just be your idea of a great Saturday. Whichever category you fall into, coast on over to Clayschool's Winter Show. Browse, buy, support local artists — it's the ultimate exhibition-slash-market. Indeed, while we're talking multi-tasking, Clayschool's students are hoping to show off their unique, handcrafted designs, and sell some as ace one-off wares. Christmas might be quite a few months away, but you can start planning already — or pick up something special for someone special, just because. (Yes, that includes for yourself). Plus, given that it's all taking place at West Village from 11am on Saturday, June 18, that means food and drinks will be in the vicinity as well. No one likes shopping on an empty stomach, after all — or while thirsty.
Remember those younger days sat in front of the television, watching your beloved Disney flicks and shows over and over? Of course you do. While you were binging on High School Musical and Hannah Montana on repeat, you probably weren't thinking about your future adult self partying to their tunes, though — but Kickons is about to blow your inner kid's mind. From Beauty and The Beast to Aladdin to Frozen, if it's a piece of music from a Disney movie or television series, you'll likely hear it on Friday, June 17. The soundtrack will also span a heap of former Disney stars; think: Hilary Duff, The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and more. Kicking off at 8pm, this When We Were Disney party will take over two dance floors across two levels, including a courtyard — because Disney fandom sprawls far and wide. Also included: a $100 prize for the best Disney outfit, Disney-themed visuals and drink specials (such as High School Musical shots and Hannah Montana-tinis), a ball pit and free lollipops.
What's better than one indulgent pop-up serving lobster, truffles and champagne in southeast Queensland? Two, obviously. After hitting up the Gold Coast, Lobster & Co is heading north for a stop at the Moreton Bay Food and Wine Festival from Friday, August 19–Sunday, August 21. Clearly, there's a specific kind of thinking behind this food event: sometimes, your tastebuds just crave something special. They hanker for the kind of dish you're not going to eat every day, aka a treat yo'self type of culinary experience. If that sounds like your idea of an indulgent meal, Lobster & Co is doing what it does best at Apex Park in Woody Point, with the pop-up van serving lobster rolls with truffle fries and flutes of Pommery champagne. You'll pay $50 for the food combo, which features a whole confit lobster tail served warm on a caramelised brioche bun with buttermilk fennel slaw, plus a side of parmesan truffle fries. A chilled glass of the champers will cost you $20 extra. Also on offer: a second roll, a Thai fusion number, which includes cabbage, green papaya and sriracha mayo — and lobster, obviously — on a brioche bun. Images: Karon Photography.
In two locations around Brisbane throughout August, familiar spaces have been transformed by Japanese artists. In both, labyrinths of art have sprung up, too. By now, you should well and truly know about the Gallery of Modern Art's stunning Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles exhibition. You should've already visited it, in fact. But over at Brisbane Quarter, there's another showcase worth your attention. Brisbane-based talents Mabina Alaka, Ken Kikkawa and Hiroaki Eba have turned Brisbane Quarter into a forest filled with floral, clay and fabric creations, all to celebrate the beauty of nature. You'll find their work, dubbed The Love of Life, on the podium level one at the George Street spot — and it's free to see from 7am–8pm daily until Wednesday, August 31. Alaka's contributions use vintage Kimono fabrics, Japanese cotton and traditional Japanese paper, while ceramic artist Kikkawa has created three different trees — a wish tree, an octopus tree and a green dragon tree. Thanks to Eba, you'll also peer at floral pieces and three other trees, including one with orchids, another inspired by Australian native plants and a third decked out with clay frogs. Fancy grabbing a drink while you're there? Tenya Japanese Restaurant is doing Love of Life cocktails for the month, too, as made with white rum, watermelon and violet liqueur. Images: Claudia Baxter.
A lot can happen in five years. Two people can meet, fall in love, get married and then see their wedded bliss come to an end. That's the tale of budding writer Jamie and rising actress Cathy in The Last Five Years, which sees him share their story from the beginning, her start at the end and work backwards, and both sing about it. And, their individual accounts only intersect once. Of course, a lot can happen in 21 years as well. That's how long it has been since the show premiered in Chicago, and then made its way to off-Broadway the next year. In 2015, it became a film starring Anna Kendrick. Now, Aussie Danielle Remulta and the UK's Robert Tripolino are stepping onto La Boite's stage and stepping into the narrative. Catch their efforts between Monday, May 30–Saturday, June 18 — and catch a powerful tale about love, life and sharing an existence with someone but still feeling like strangers, too. You'll also be seeing a classic penned by Tony-winning playwright Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Bridges of Madison County), and a show that's kept treading the boards for more than two decades now for a reason. Images: Morgan Roberts.
Time travel doesn't yet exist, sadly, so no one can step inside a phone booth or a DeLorean and zip back into the past. But if you've always wanted to see what happened when trailblazing French actress Sarah Bernhardt took on Shakespeare's Hamlet at the turn of the 20th century — playing the Danish prince herself, too — you can come as close as possible at Queensland Theatre's Bernhardt/Hamlet between Saturday, May 28–Sunday, June 19. Stacking icons upon icons, this play by American playwright Theresa Rebeck tells that tale, with Brisbane-born actor Angie Milliken (Death of a Salesman, Passengers) slipping into Bernhardt's shoes. Here, it's Paris in 1899, and Bernhardt faces a question: to be or not to be the scandal-courting woman who dares take on such a famed — and, as penned by the Bard, male — role. Bringing the real-life backstage story front and centre on the Bille Brown Theatre stage, this show may hark back more than a century; however, its account of a bold woman challenging the status quo and helping cement her place in history in the process will never stop being timely. Top image: Brett Boardman.
This winter, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is hosting a sales event of most peculiar stock. Strange things they are, full of pages, rampant with words and with covers of the most beautiful colours. You can't charge them, they don't run out of battery, their brightness is unalterable, and they won't smash when you drop them. After being forced to shake up its usual schedule over the past few years due to the pandemic, Lifeline Bookfest is coming back for another round of vintage bargains between Saturday, June 4–Sunday, June 12. It's where you'll find everything from Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks to a bit of cheeky erotica, as well as games, DVDs and puzzles. If you've been before, you'll know there are warehouse quantities of books for sale – your grade five diary is probably hidden under a copy of Shantaram, and you'll come across at least three copies of Cooking with Days of Our Lives. In fact, over this year's nine-day winter run, more than one million items will be up for grabs. Prices tend to range from $2.50 to the big bucks — and when it last unleashed its treasure trove in mid-2021, the $1 selection got the axe so that the sale could spread out in these social-distancing times. Don't go thinking you won't have plenty to choose from, though. Whenever Bookfest hits Brisbane, it always brings hundreds of crates of reading materials with it. You'll still want to bring a trolley and your glasses, obviously, and to clear some space on your shelves at home. And, you'll want to bring your cards, because this Bookfest is cashless. Also, you'll need your own bags, as books won't be wrapped for you this year. Head along from 7.30am–6pm on Saturday, June 4; 8.30am–6pm between Sunday, June 5–Thursday, June, 8; 8.30am–9pm on Friday, June 10; and 8.30am–6pm between Saturday, June 11–Sunday, June 12. Images: Bookfest.
A trip to Northshore Hamilton usually means taking in the scenery, whether you're staring at the river, the grassy surroundings right there on its banks or both. But until Sunday, July 10, there's something else to look at that you won't see all-year-round: sculptures big and small. Presented by Sculptors Queensland, two-month-long exhibition Northshore Sculpture by the River is showcasing works by its members, featuring pieces on display both indoors and out — and in all shapes and sizes, too. Peer at sculpted animals, people, fantastical critters, abstract forms, shapes and more, all for free. There are two parts to the event. Kicking things off, the indoor portion runs from Friday, May 6–Tuesday, May 24, open 10am–4pm Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with Monday, Tuesday and Thursday viewings by appointment, all in The Shed at the Hamilton precinct. Or, wander around outdoors from Friday, May 13–Sunday, July 10 to spot sculptures around Northshore's Maritime Green.
Forget finding a golden ticket — while scoring a free pass to a chocolate factory was everyone's fantasy as a kid (and, let's face it, is still a fantasy now), there are other ways to indulge your Willy Wonka dreams. Cakes as far as the eye can see, classes on how to make them and a dedicated sweet zone aren't just things that floated through your head while you were asleep. They're real, and they're part of the returning International Cake, Cookie and Sweet Show at Brisbane Showgrounds. From Friday, May 13–Sunday, May 15, the Ekka precinct becomes the sweetest place in the city, so prepare your tastebuds and stomach accordingly. The three-day show will feature a mixing bowl worth of live cake-making and decorating sessions, how-to demonstrations, hands-on classes and a two-day cake sculpture challenge — as well as hosting the Australasian Cake Oscars, the tastiest awards you're ever likely to come across. Other highlights include stalls and shops, which'll help you bake up a storm at home, as well plenty of tasty fare to devour. Basically, when you're not learning how to make sweet treats, you'll be eating them — including at a doughnut smashdown, which is exactly what it sounds like, and a blindfolded cookie and buttercream challenge. Oh, and you'll be looking at them, too — and not just your regular old desserts. Get ready to scope out a giant Marvel-themed cake and one shaped like a Jurassic Park velociraptor, aka the sweets that sugar dreams are made of.
In 2022, Tuesday, June 21 marks an important occasion: winter solstice, or the day with the shortest span of daylight and longest stretch of night for the current 12-month period. Since ancient times, it has been a time of celebration — and that's what Northey Street City Farm does each and every year. Hosting this stint of revelry on a Tuesday wouldn't be any fun, though, so this year's Winter Solstice Festival will take place on Saturday, June 18. At the Windsor spot, everything from food and live music to talks and workshops is on the bill — with BARKAA is headlining — and there's also a lantern parade and a sizeable bonfire. The leafy venue has been getting into the wintry spirit for more than 25 years now, so expect quite the party. Community fire-twirling, chats on topics as varied as winter gardening and queer permaculture, and tea ceremony circles, organic markets, lantern and origami classes, and afternoon jazz are all on offer as well. The event kicks off from 1pm, with $40 tickets on sale now. You can also purchase a pay-it-forward ticket for $25, which'll go to someone who can't afford one. And, this year's festival will also be a zero-waste affair, so bring your own reusable containers, crockery, cutlery and water bottles, as none will be given out at the food and drink stalls. Image: Northey Street City Farm.
If you're serious about bacon, then there's only one place to be over the weekend of Friday, August 19–Sunday, August 21. That's the town of Kingaroy, about two-and-a-half hours north-west of Brisbane. As it does every year — well, when the pandemic isn't getting in the way — it's dedicating three whole days to one glorious type of foodstuff. Whether you're keen on eating it or buying a heap of it, if there's bacon involved, it's on offer during Kingaroy BaconFest. Browse the bacon market, watch bacon cooking demonstrations, catch the smoking pork masterclass or try your hand at the tastiest eating contest there is. Yes, it's about bacon, obviously. Live music is also on the bill, as is bacon ice cream, a wine and swine evening, a cycling and running event called Rasher's Rush, and a barbecue pork smoke-off competition. Celebrity chef Miguel Maestre and Queensland favourite Matt Golinski will be in attendance, too, at a fest that deserves one straightforward but fitting word: sizzling. [caption id="attachment_854893" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nancy Jayde Photography[/caption]
If you're the kind of beer lover who feels like they've tried every brew ever — or you've made it your mission to achieve that yeasty goal — then you're probably a big fan of the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular. For more than a decade now, since it started off as a Melbourne-only celebration of ales, lagers, ciders and more, the event has been serving up weird, wild, wonderful and inventive varieties, many of which are made exclusively for the booze-sipping shindig. In 2022, that's set to be the case once more, with the beer fest returning for a tour of Australia's east coast capitals in May. GABS is considered to be one of the best craft beer and cider festivals in the Asia Pacific region for good reason, and this year it has at least 120 of them, because that's how many brews will be on offer. Prepare to knock back beers inspired by breakfast foods, savoury snacks, desserts, cocktails and more when the event hits the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, May 7. Some of the foods and drinks that this year's GABS brews are taking their cues from: peanut butter, coffee, earl grey tea, chicken salt, pizza, fairy floss, bubblegum and sour gummi bears. Confirmed highlights include Brouhaha's Baked and Wasted, a sour which uses wasted baked goods; Capital Brewing Co's experimental Smooches, which pairs cocao nibs with a strawberry kick; Mismatch Brewing Co's We Love NY Cheesecake stout, in case you've ever wondered what cheesecake in a glass tastes like; and The Catchment Brewing Co's Ra Ra Raspoutine, another stout that, yes, is brewed from chips, cheese and gravy. The event surveys both Australian and New Zealand breweries, with more than 60 set to be pouring their wares in Brisbane. As well as the aforementioned outfits, this year they'll also include Balter, Range, Otherside, Black Hops, Ballistic, Your Mates, Mountain Culture, One Drop and Little Creatures, as well as Colonial, Mountain Goat and Bentspoke — and NZ's Garage Project and Panhead Custom Ale. Also on the bill: other types of tipples, including non-alcoholic beers, seltzers, whiskey, gin, cocktails and wines (including by 19 Crimes Snoop Dog Cali Red). GABS is known for dishing up a hefty lineup of activities to accompanying all that sipping, too, which'll span a silent disco, roaming bands, circus and sideshow performers, games and panels with industry leaders in 2022, as well as local food trucks and vendors to line your stomach.
There's always some sort of party going at Welcome to Bowen Hills, and that's been the case ever since it first opened its doors a few years back. One type of shindig is always cuter than the rest, though — because when there's dogs involved, everything instantly gets more adorable. Pooches are always welcome at the venue, but Dog's Day Out is throwing the spotlight their way — and, ideally, will see the place swarmed by pups. If you have your own dog at home, it now has weekend plans. If you don't but you wish you did, prepare to pat plenty of others people's pets from 1pm on Saturday, May 14. The site's food trucks and bars won't just be catering to humans, either. And, there'll also be market stalls filled with goodies for you to buy for your pup. In the past, Welcome to Bowen Hills has hosted best-dressed dog competition, although it isn't officially on the agenda this time. That said, if your pupper has great style, it'll get Brisbanits saying "awwwwwww" anyway.
They're red, sweet and juicy — and they're everyone's favourite fruit. They're also grown in abundance around Queensland. Did you know that 40 percent of the state's strawberries come from the Moreton Bay region? Well, you do now — and you might just want to celebrate that fact. All you need to do is head on over to Sandstone Point from 10am on Saturday, September 10 for the returning Strawberry and Dessert Festival. Because you can never have too much of a good thing, this Sandstone Point Hotel event will paint the pub pink with farm-fresh strawberries — and strawberry milkshakes, strawberry ice cream, scones with strawberry jam and chocolate-coated strawberries are all usually on the menu. So is a strawberry-eating competition, plus a bar serving strawberry-flavoured cocktails. As you might've noticed, this isn't just a strawberry festival. It's a showcase of many a sweet treat as well. Basically, arrive hungry — and wear something stretchy — as you prepare to devour desserts aplenty. Also on the lineup: cooking demonstrations, spanning strawberries and desserts; dessert cocktail-making demos as well; and live tunes and fireworks. Images: Sandstone Point Hotel.
If one person's trash is another man's treasure, then a trunk full of junk may as well be a treasure chest. Suitcase Rummage gets that when it comes to shopping, secondhand reaps the best bang for your buck. For years, it has been hosting regular events around town — and, although the past few years have been a bit chaotic, it's still going strong in 2022. Next unpacking its bags from 12pm on Sunday, July 2 and Sunday, July 17 at Brisbane Square, Suitcase Rummage will feature a crowd of open suitcases filled with the type of clothes, knick-knacks and craft you probably don't need but definitely deserve. If you can't make it now, try again on the first and third Sundays of each month. And, if you've got a pile of unwanted bits and pieces that someone else could love, you could always take your own suitcase along. Those who wanting to sell their wares must register — and it'll cost $33 for a 'stall'. You can bring up to three suitcases, so you can lug in all those shoes you've been promising to wear but certainly will not. [caption id="attachment_760661" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Suitcase Rummage[/caption] Top image: Yan Chen via Suitcase Rummage. Updated June 29.
No one likes Mondays. Tuesdays are hardly anyone's favourite day either. But while you can't escape the fact that the weekend is over, you can start off your working week with a few slurps of cheap ramen. Every Monday and Tuesday between 5–6pm, Hai Hai serves up its number one dish for $10 a pop. And, here's a tip: when you're staring at a brothy bowl filled with noodles, char siu, bean sprouts, eggs and more, the fact that you're still days and days away from a break doesn't seem so bad. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options are also available for the same price. Don't feel like slurping? Hai Hai also does mazemen — no-broth ramen — for $10 a serve on Mondays and Tuesdays as well. Unsurprisingly, there are a few conditions — including the fact that you absolutely must be seated by 6pm. There's also no waiting list for a table, and you can't hold tables either. In other words, getting there early is recommended. Images: Hai Hai Ramen. Updated August 16.
When Hollywood's biggest awards can run for 93 years and only give two female filmmakers its Best Director gong in that entire time so far, it's clear that gender diversity hasn't been big on the cinema industry's priorities for most of the last century. But for six years now, the Melbourne Women in Film Festival has been doing its part to celebrate women in film, as its name makes plain — and it's back for 2022 both in-person and online. The mixed format means that Melburnians can head along to ACMI from Thursday, February 10–Monday, February 14, while folks elsewhere — or those in Melbourne who can't make it physically — can watch along at home. On the bill, cinephiles will find a showcase of movies that champion female-guided on-screen comedy, a topic that'll also echo through the fest's conversations and skills-development programs. Screening highlights include short Groundhog Night, about a dad caring for his daughter with disability; 2018 Tropfest entry Paper Cut, which plays with gender experiences; and closing night's Love and Other Catastrophes, the 1996 indie classic starring Frances O'Connor and Radha Mitchell. Among the talks and workshops lineup, The Culture of Comedy will dive into using the genre to unite creatives and viewers from different backgrounds, while Creating Comedy Online will provide tips for women looking to make a digital splash by making viewers laugh.
When Friday, February 25 rolls around, it won't just be another day on the calendar. If you like oysters, it'll be a day full of them. There's no actual special occasion — it isn't Oyster Day, which is a real thing that does actually exist — but you can still spend your lunchtime slurping down more than a few molluscs. From 12pm until stocks last, Alchemy will be serving up plenty of oysters in its riverside Eagle Street digs. Even better: it'll be offering up $1.50 oysters. No, there's no missing numeral in the price, so gather your spare change for a feast of Australia's finest. Whatever you decide to pair them with, drinks-wise, is up to you, although there will be margaritas, lychee martinis and daiquiris on offer. The special's timing means that you can pop by for lunch or a mid-afternoon snack; however, getting in quick is recommended given that this deal will only last until sold out.
When a new year rolls around, everyone is celebrating something. Sea Legs Brewing Co isn't just welcoming in another 12 months or even celebrating lunar new year, though. The Kangaroo Point brewery is commemorating its first huge three years of operation — yes, time flies — and it's doing so with a party and beer. How else? This birthday bash will feature a few special tipples — as you'd expect from a brewery — as well as food specials to match. And, it'll double as a launch for the brewery's new-look core range of beers, and also offer up giveaways (because everyone loves heading to a birthday shindig and coming home with something, party bag-style). Whether you prefer your brews off the tap or in tins, you'll be catered for. The Main Street brewpub also serves up wings, cheeseburger spring rolls, pizzas, burgers and more on its regular menu, so your tastebuds will find something to suit. Bookings are recommended, but you can also just walk in on the day. Entry is free, with the shindig running from 2pm on Saturday, December 14.
Forget scones, jam and cream, as delicious a combination as that is — at The Lab's lunar new year high teas throughout February, it's ditching the classic setup. Instead, you'll tuck into pork belly bao, red bean buns and mandarin curd tarts to celebrate the year of the tiger, with the $50-per-person spread available every Saturday and Sunday from 1pm throughout the month. Also on the menu: prawn dumplings and xiaolongbao from the dim sum range, plus sweet treats such as pistachio macaroons, pistachio and chocolate pyramids, gold foil chocolate leaves, layered chestnut cakes with meringue and pineapple shortbread. And, to treat your eyes as well as your stomach, they'll be served in a candy box platter. The full 12-dish lineup has been designed to symbolise celebration and good fortune, if you feel like your luck could use a bit of a boost as the lunar new year kicks into gear. Something that'll definitely be brightening up the place: an interactive lantern installation filled with glowing rows, so get ready to take some snaps as well on your trip to The Treasury.
Remember those childhood days sat in front of the television, watching your beloved Disney flicks over and over? Of course you do. While you were binging on The Lion King or The Little Mermaid on repeat, you probably weren't thinking about your future adult self partying to 'Hakuna Matata' or 'Under the Sea' — but The Brightside is about to blow your inner kid's mind. From Beauty and The Beast to Aladdin to Frozen, if it's a piece of music from a Disney flick, you'll likely hear it on Saturday, February 5. The soundtrack will also span a heap of Disney TV shows and their stars, plus hits by former Mouseketeers. Think Hilary Duff, The Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera — and back on the movie front, High School Musical obviously. Kicking off at 11pm, this Disney Party will get you dancing to your Disney faves and belting out many a tune while you do so. Tickets cost $15.30, and are on sale now.
