This Spectacular 10-Day Christmas Festival Is Back To Light Up The City Skyline
Dinushka Gunasekara
Brisbane Editor | Urban List
Brisbane’s Christmas season is always a dazzling affair, but arguably no event shines as big and bright as Sono Lumo: an electrifying ten-day festival back once again to transform the city skyline.
Returning to the Queen’s Wharf Precinct, the free and immersive celebration culminates in a spectacular audio-visual experience across four activation zones, live performances, and three hero shows each night, from Wednesday 10 to Sunday 14 December and Wednesday 17 to Sunday 21 December.
Image credit: Sono Lumo | Supplied
This year, the theme is Steampunk City and it’s just as bold and fantastical as you can imagine. Taking cues from the creativity of Victorian-era invention and futuristic design, it’s less fairy lights and more high-tech spectacle with metallic details and an exciting sense of adventure. It sounds ambitious, but with leading experiential agency RIZER (who are known for their wild activations around the world) at the helm, Sono Lumo is sure to deliver.
From 6pm to 10pm across the 10 days, three eight-minute hero shows will take place at The Landing on the river’s edge—starting at 7:15pm then following every hour. Set your sights on the precinct’s facade, where sounds and light powered by a mechanical timepiece will take over in a captivating story about Christmas spirit, featuring fireworks, snow and an original soundtrack by local beatboxing legend Tom Thum (aka the ‘human sound machine’).
Image credit: Sono Lumo | Supplied
Vibrant animations will see the entire Queen’s Wharf Precinct come to life, from the iconic George Street stairs to Queen’s Wharf Plaza, and the heritage Commissariat building as animated toys and cog-driven reindeers march across its walls. Spirit Works Square will serve as the beating heart of Steampunk City, where you can truly treat your senses thanks to pop-up bars and food trucks lit up by light projections and live acts surprising you at every turn.
Queen’s Wharf’s dedicated space along the riverfront—the DPI courtyard—will transform into the Festive Foundry, where you’ll find a seven-metre inflatable airship bar hovering six metres above the festival’s dedicated cocktail area. Here, you can sip on an inventive lineup of steampunk-inspired cocktails and soak in the entertainment. Meanwhile, beneath the bustle of the Steampunk City, discover a hidden passage dubbed The Underpass, where beams of colour and changing lights glow to the tune of festive beats and remixed carols.
Image credit: Sono Lumo | Supplied
Needless to say, words don’t do Sono Lumo justice; this is an experience you’ll have to see for yourself. We recommend heading in when darkness falls to fully experience the lights in all their glory.
The Details
When: 6pm to 10pm, Wednesday 10 to Sunday 14 December and Wednesday 17 to Sunday 21 December
Where: Queen’s Wharf, Brisbane CBD
Find out more here.