Has Brisbane shaken off the cultural cringe?

When I heard that Charlie Cush and Louise Bezzina had agreed to remain at the helm of the city’s most anticipated event on the calendar for a few more years, I breathed a sigh of relief. Their combined genius as CEO and artistic director respectively, has taken Brisbane Festival from a relatively unknown player to a major international arts festival, and in doing so has stamped Brisbane on the map as a global city. The significance of this can not be underestimated.  

Many of us have spent the past few weeks up late watching our Aussies win Olympic gold in Paris, but if there was an equivalent medal for success in the arts, I’d be handing it over to Charlie and Louise. Here’s some context, by way of what Brisbane Festival delivered in 2023;  

• $1.7 million total audience
• 112,803 visitors to Brisbane
• $46M attributable to the Brisbane economy

And that’s just scratching the surface of its success, which has somehow even defied a pandemic to continue to stay ahead of the game and redefine what an international arts festival looks and feels like. 

This year’s Brisbane Festival, their fifth together, is being held from August 30 to September 21 and invites everyone to “Find Your Fit” across more than 70 events on offer. 70 events…I struggle to throw my kids a birthday party let alone plan multiple events across a city, attracting thousands of people, for an entire month. 

It starts with a bang, literally, in the form of Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust and continues on throughout the month on the shoulders on an impressive collective of local and international talent including fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier and journalist turned best-selling author Trent Dalton.

Charlie, the brother of my best mate and Ray White Collective co-director Haesley Cush, understands the value of what they deliver, describing the ongoing success of Brisbane Festival as a “significant investment in soft infrastructure for the city”. 

He’s a proud Brisbane-born local, unapologetically so, who firmly believes in the city’s growth and that it’s shaken off a cultural cringe. Charlie’s challenge now is to bring everyone else along for the ride. 

Do you believe Brisbane’s finally arrived? I’d love to know your thoughts on this one…

Enjoy your weekend

Matt Lancashire