The Inside Scoop on the 2009 River Festival in Brisbane
This year the Brisbane Festival and the River Festival are merging into one. For three weeks, from 12th September to 3rd October there will be extraordinary, international and Australian artists and productions in theatres, parks and suburban Streets.
The festival is a celebration of the Brisbane relationship with the river as well as the diverse and eclectic communities.
There are several events that are seen year and again. Each year it is opened with a fireworks display over the river, know as Riverfire. It has visual choreography, air force jets and a synchronized soundtrack. Another regular event is River Symposium, an international conference discussing the best for river management and waterway preservation. This event has attracted some of the worlds leading scientist and experts over the last 10 years.
Some other events throughout the festival include; Out of the River…Imagine. This highlights the fact that on average 350 plastic bags, 700 plastic bottles and over one million bread tags are cleaned from the river each week. They do this by transforming the plastic bags into 350 kites, plastic bottle are transformed into costumes, chandeliers and other art objects and stretching across the Victoria Bridge is a massive collection of bread tags.
SunSuper River BBQ is a new event this year : A fantastic free BBQ on the Goodwill Bridge complete with roving musicians, art installations and of course a great cooked breakfast yes…all for free. Liquid Lens is a film festival showcasing original short and animation films about water from Queensland filmmakers and digital artists. The Showcase features the work of the finalists. There are events combining indigenous culture with contemporary performers to pay homage to the river and celebrate cultural collaboration and local restaurants come together to engage in fantastic culinary events such as the Seafood Festival , Prawn peeling or Oyster eating competitions.
There is also the River concert, which is held at the Botanical Garden, with a wide selection of music and activities for the children.
If you are planning on visiting Brisbane this is a perfect time to do so. you can see everything it has to offer in a sized down form.