From 5 to 27 September 2025, Brisbane Festival transforms the city into a vibrant stage. With 106 productions, 1,069 performances, and 2,260 artists, this 23-day celebration features 21 world premieres, with over 43% of the program free to the public, ensuring world-class art is accessible to all. Under the visionary leadership of Artistic Director Louise Bezzina, in her sixth and final festival, the 2025 program is a bold love letter to Brisbane, blending international collaborations, First Nations voices, and homegrown talent.
“This year’s program is a love letter to Brisbane — bold, joyful, and created with and for the city,” said Artistic Director Louise Bezzina. “My final festival is a celebration of everything Brisbane Festival has become: a worldclass event with a fiercely local heart. From world premieres to deeply resonant community works, this year’s program is ambitious in scale and grounded in storytelling, deeply connected to the people and places that make this city so special. As the city comes alive this September, I welcome everyone to take their place in the story.”
With Bezzina’s vision setting the stage for a festival that celebrates both global artistry and local stories, the 2025 dance program shines with a lineup of featured works that embody this bold and joyful spirit.
In an Australian exclusive, renowned choreographer Benjamin Millepied and L.A. Dance Project present Gems, a world premiere commissioned by Van Cleef & Arpels, uniting three stunning dance works. This breathtaking performance brings together composer Philip Glass, artist Barbara Kruger, and designer Alessandro Sartori, weaving dance, music, visual art, and fashion into a visually arresting and emotionally resonant experience.
As the festival unfolds along the river, First Nations artist Stephen Page, founder of Bangarra Dance Theatre, returns to his Brisbane roots with Baleen Moondjan, a breathtaking contemporary ceremony staged on a floating barge. Beneath the night sky, towering sculptural whale bones rise from the water, blending music, movement, and storytelling to honor the totemic connection between baleen whales and Country, drawing on Page’s Ngugi, Nunukul, and Moondjan ancestry.
The festival’s ambitious scope continues with Bad Nature, a thrilling collaboration between Australasian Dance Collective and the Netherlands’ Club Guy & Roni. This world premiere of epic scale features twelve powerhouse dancers and musicians from HIIIT, alongside designer Boris Acket and fashion provocateurs MAISON the FAUX, delivering a multisensory exploration of humanity’s complex relationship with nature through bold visuals and dynamic choreography.
Equally compelling is Preparing Ground, a powerful new work co-directed by Queensland choreographers Marilyn Miller, Jasmin Sheppard, and Katina Olsen. Through movement, language, sound, and projection, this world premiere channels the weight of history and the fire of resistance, evoking a landscape both sacred and stolen in a profound reflection on First Nations resilience.
Brisbane’s iconic Twelfth Night Theatre reawakens for Gatsby at the Green Light, a luminous night of cabaret, variety, and contemporary music, following a sold-out season at the Sydney Opera House. This reimagined venue becomes a sparkling stage for a celebration of performance, blending dance and storytelling in a nod to the city’s cultural heritage.
Adding to the festival’s energy, the Netherlands’ ISH Dance Collective brings Elements of Freestyle, a high-adrenaline fusion of dance, theatre, and extreme sports. Featuring BMX, skateboarding, freerunning, and breakdance, this electrifying show transforms gravity-defying tricks into poetic choreography, celebrating movement in its wildest forms.
The festival also showcases Stephanie Lake’s The Chronicles, which brings together twelve leading dancers in a striking meditation on life’s cycles and the inevitability of change, captivating audiences with its intricate choreography and universal themes.
Closing out the dance highlights is Common People Dance Eisteddfod, a high-energy, sequin-studded dance battle that unites people of all ages and backgrounds. This celebration of movement and community sweeps Brisbane, inviting everyone to embrace unfiltered expression on the dancefloor.
Brisbane Festival 2025 runs from 5 to 27 September. Tickets are on sale now. Explore the full program and secure your spot at brisbanefestival.com.au.
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