Brisbane Festival 2025 ended in a blaze of light, sound and celebration, bringing to a close both three exhilarating weeks of art across the city and the seven-year tenure of Artistic Director Louise Bezzina.
Since her appointment in 2019, Bezzina has reshaped the festival into a civic event of unprecedented scale. Her guiding call be bold, be brave, be Brisbane reached its fullest expression this year as theatres, bridges, riverbanks, laneways and gardens became part of an expanded stage that reflected the city’s growing cultural ambition ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
This year’s program blended spectacular mass events with intimate encounters. Hundreds of thousands crossed colour-drenched bridges in ANZ’s Walk This Way by Craig & Karl, while the river itself became a theatre in Baleen Moondjan, a striking First Nations-led production framed by sculptural whale bones that rose from a barge. Riverfire again drew enormous crowds to the riverbanks, while Skylore: Nieergoo – Spirit of the Whale filled the night sky with drones in a dazzling act of storytelling.
Beyond the city centre, the program embraced the suburbs. At QPAC, audiences revelled in the Australian exclusive of Benjamin Millepied’s Gems, and the refurbished Twelfth Night Theatre in Bowen Hills was reborn with the roaring success of GATSBY at the Green Light. At Peggs Park, the Moorooka Block Party brought together thousands in celebration of local culture, while Brisbane Powerhouse pulsed with premieres including Bad Nature and the exhilarating Elements of Freestyle.
For Bezzina, it was always about scale and connection, reaching people where they lived while showcasing Brisbane to the world. In 2025 alone, the festival employed more than 2,600 arts workers across 108 events, breaking attendance records and achieving global reach through millions of online views.
“This program was a love letter to Brisbane, bold, joyful, and created with and for the city,” Bezzina reflected. “My final festival celebrated everything Brisbane Festival has become: a world-class event with a fiercely local heart.”
The legacy of her leadership is undeniable. Through initiatives such as community serenades, The Art Boat, and ambitious international collaborations like Salamander by Es Devlin and Maxine Doyle, Bezzina ensured the festival was not only a showcase but also a generator of artistic opportunity.
As Brisbane looks ahead to 2032, the festival stands as a marker of what is possible when a city embraces fearless creativity. Bezzina leaves behind an institution transformed, a festival that has secured Brisbane’s place on the global cultural map.