Overview
We're always on the hunt for new things to do, scouring the city for not-boring Brisbane activities — and that includes different ways to spend time with your special someone. Need an idea that's guaranteed to take your next date way beyond done-before beers at the pub? We have suggestions.
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) options for dates to go on this week and long weekend, no matter how much money you've got to spend.
Just think of us as your cultural wingman. You're welcome.
Under $20
Revamp Your Wardrobe Just in Time for Winter
Pre-loved fashion sales tick two pivotal boxes: helping add new items to your closet in a sustainable way, and also letting you pass on the threads that you're no longer wearing to someone else to make the most of. You and your special someone don't have to participate in both sides of the equation, of course. So when a secondhand fashion pop-up takes over Rocklea's weekly Saturday Fresh Market on Saturday, May 31, you can just buy or just sell (if you book a stall in advance).
The event: Closet Cleanout, which is running from 6am–12pm to see out May and also end autumn. The market's usual range of fresh produce, food and other goods will still be on offer, but it'll add a fashion focus for the day.
Reducing fashion waste, plus celebrating and supporting eco-conscious shopping, are among Closet Cleanout's aims. Not just buying and selling but swapping is also on the agenda. Clothes, shoes, accessories: they're all covered, as are designer pieces, vintage items and everything in-between.
For those heading along to browse, entry to the Saturday Fresh Market costs $2 per person, or $6 with parking.
Under $50
Enjoy a Taste of Italy by the Brisbane River
When an event's first and second runs have proven a hit, so much so that it's coming back for another year, you can't quite say that the third time will be the charm. Still, Festa Italiana has big things in store for 2025. Howard Smith Wharves' annual taste of la dolce vita is returning for two four-day weekends with a feast of Italian dishes, pop-up bars, a special dessert from Gelato Messina and plenty more. Naples-born and -raised, Sydney-based chef Orazio D'Elia of Bondi Beach's Da Orazio is again making the trip to Brisbane, too, leading the festivities.
When Festa Italiana launched in 2023, the aim was to give its waterfront CBD home its first-ever Italian food market, and to celebrate cuisine and beverages from the country in focus. That's on the agenda again in 2025. This year's dates for you and your other half: Thursday, May 29–Sunday, June 1 and Thursday, June 5–Sunday, June 8. Joining in alongside D'Elia: fellow chefs Carmine Guarino (another Naples-born culinary figure) and Dean Anning (Ciao Papi's Executive Chef). And yes, it's timed to wrap up autumn and say hello to winter over its two weekends. Entry is free, with everything that you're keen to eat and drink purchased as you go.
Again, D'Elia will be serving up a range of dishes that he's known for. His vodka rigatoni (made with tomato, chilli, cream and vodka) is back on Festa Italiana's menu. This year, attendees can tuck into his strozzapreti ai gamberi, aka twisted pasta with prawns, zucchini and cherry tomatoes as well. Thanks to a grill station on HSW's main lawn, there'll also be porchetta-stuffed focaccia and chicken rolls, all to enjoy by the river.
Guarino's contribution: traditional Italian street food, specifically Roman-style pizzas served by the slice. You'll be able to pair them with natural Italian wines, all while Italo disco tunes play. For more sips, the festival is hosting a spritz bar (think: Lambrusco spritzes and frozen white peach Aperol slushies, for something beyond your usual drinks) and Felons Brewing Co is whipping up a Festa Italiania-exclusive Italian lager. At Ciao Papi, Anning's menu includes stracciatella with grilled leeks, hazelnut and truffle — plus rigatoni alla amatriciana with sugo, garlic, chilli and pancetta. Here, beverages will also be a highlight, with eatery's garden becoming an Aperol garden with orange hues to match and a dedicated Aperol spritz bar.
Feast Your Way Around a Twilight Market
When Christmas hits each year, the Nundah Markets stay up late, swapping one of its usual daytime events for a twilight shindig. That kind of fun isn't just for getting festive, though. For the past few years, it's also been for celebrating winter. Meet Nundah by Night, which is taking place from 4–10pm on Saturday, May 31 in 2025. On the agenda: shopping, eating, drinking and being merry midyear, just before the coldest season arrives.
There'll be quite the lineup of places to grab handmade items from — 120-plus stalls, in fact — with clothes, jewellery, art, homewares, soap, candles and all things edible available. You'll find gourmet foods on offer as well (including bites to eat while you and your significant other are there).
For your $3 entry fee, you can enjoy a stint of browsing and buying under the site's fairy lights at Nundah Markets' usual spot on Station Street. And, you can stop in at the pop-up bar for a local craft brew, too — or warm up with some mulled wine.
Live music is also on the lineup, as is a travelling and roving performers. And if you're wondering what you'll be snacking on, brisket, pulled pork, taco rice bowls and churros are just some of the dishes on the menu.
Under $100
Christoph Thoresen Ofa
Get Your Pulse Racing From Your Cinema Seat
In need of some new procrastination material? Well, you're in luck. Google image search 'Banff' and spend a few minutes (or half an hour) taking in the gorgeous pictures of snow-capped mountains, aqua water and towering pines. It's impossible to not daydream about holidaying somewhere far-flung and exciting while ogling these picture-perfect views, as we're sure you'll agree.
Thankfully, you and your favourite person have the opportunity to slip into this magical world without ever leaving Brisbane. The River City's Brisbane Powerhouse is hosting Banff Mountain Film Festival's 2025 tour — the event's latest stopover, after beginning back in 1976. Its stunning cinematography attracts film buffs and adventurers alike, making the festival mighty popular across the world today.
Each year, hundreds of films enter the competition with the cream of the crop chosen to entertain and amaze festivalgoers. Some of the featured flicks battled it out in categories including Best Film on Mountain Sport, Best Film on Mountain Environment, Best Film on Mountain Culture, Best Film on Exploration and Adventure, and more.
Check out seven of them from Wednesday, May 28–Saturday, May 31 at Brisbane Powerhouse, in a package featuring films about snowboarding on Antarctic icebergs, wingsuit flying in the Swiss Alps, ultra-marathon running, mountain biking in the Dolomites and more.
One Big Blowout
Markus Ravik
Hang Out in a Waterside Igloo
It never gets all that cold in Brisbane. It doesn't snow, for instance. Still, it's fun to pretend that it's frostier than it is. One way for you and your date to do exactly that: the Winter Chalet pop-up at Customs House, which sets up igloos and wintry decor by the river each year.
It's the Queen Street venue's regular seasonal makeover when the mercury drops, and it comes complete with see-through domes for you and your mates to hang out in — while getting cosy under faux-fur blankets, peering at the river and knocking back a range of Veuve Clicquot tipples. Or, if you'd prefer cocktails for your chalet-style waterside hangs, the Clicquot sidecar, espresso martinis, negronis and Tommy's margaritas are on offer.
Open Tuesdays–Sundays weekly until the end of winter for 2025, the pop-up is also serving up a selection to line your stomach. Dining is available from Tuesday–Thursday, as is a winter high tea. The first costs $160 per person and the second $105 per person, both for two–six people. Opt for dinner and you'll be tucking into wagyu beef tartare, pork belly, potato gnocchi and wood-smoked buffalo mozzarella, among other options. For high tea, bites include smoked salmon and caviar waffle sandwiches, curried lobster brioche, vanilla cream cheese scones and Baileys mousse petit fours. Both packages come with a glass of Veuve Clicquot NV.
The site is operating as a chalet bar Friday–Sunday, too — for dome bookings from $75 per person, and also just hanging about. That's where the always-popular half Moreton Bay bug croissants come in, as well as duck liver parfait, burrata arancini, and baked whole brie.
Top image: Markus Ravik.