Queensland Performing Arts Centre To Host Free 40th Anniversary Open Day
Celebrations to include backstage tours, workshops, and performances for all ages.
Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) will throw open its doors on Sunday, August 31, 2025, continuing its 40th anniversary celebrations with a day of free entertainment, backstage tours, and hands-on workshops. The QPAC 40 Open Day will offer the rare chance for audiences to step behind the curtain of every theatre* and explore the centre’s inner workings.
Festivities will begin at 9 a.m. with a Welcome to Country by Nunukul Yuggera on the Melbourne Street Green, followed by a full day of performances and activities. The outdoor stage will feature a breaking workshop with Elements Dance Collective, DJ sets by Jeremy Neale, Broadway Bingo by Outside the Jukebox, a performance by Toni Janke and Band, and more. Inside, QPAC’s backstage teams will lead workshops in audio, lighting, staging, stage management, and wardrobe on the Playhouse stage. Technical activations will take place on the set of Opera Queensland’s La bohème in the Lyric Theatre, while visitors to the Cremorne Theatre can try their hand at operating a followspot to illuminate costumes and props from the QPAC Collection.
Throughout the day, twelve guided backstage tours will give audiences an inside look at QPAC’s theatres and production areas, with members of the venue’s technical team sharing stories of how world-class performances are brought to life. In the Lyric foyer, visitors can view highlights from the QPAC Collection, which includes more than 80,000 items such as costumes, photographs, set designs, programs, and ephemera. Special talks will reveal the history behind both displayed and archived items.
The Concert Hall will host two free organ recitals by internationally acclaimed organist Christopher Wrench at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., and local artists will stage pop-up performances in unexpected spaces around the building. BlackCard Cultural Tours will take participants through nearby galleries, exhibitions, and public art installations, connecting them with Brisbane’s Aboriginal history. Meanwhile, a Cultural Precinct Architecture Tour led by former Queensland Government Architect Malcolm Middleton OAM LFAIA will highlight the beauty and legacy of Robin Gibson’s design of the Queensland Cultural Precinct.
Visitors can also contribute to a special collaborative artwork on the Green, created in real time by Brisbane artist and theatre designer Penny Challen, capturing memories of QPAC’s first 40 years and hopes for the future in a time capsule installation.
While most activities are free, bookings are required for select tours, workshops, backstage activities, and organ recitals via qpac.com.au. As part of the celebrations, anyone purchasing a QPAC ticket in 2025 will be entered into the draw to win a brand-new Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, courtesy of QPAC’s Principal Partner, Hyundai.
The QPAC 40 Open Day is supported by 612 ABC Radio Brisbane, with the organ recitals supported by QPAC Principal Partner MinterEllison.
*excluding QPAC’s Glasshouse Theatre, currently under construction and opening in 2026.
Videos
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Two Weeks Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (5/28-5/30) |
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The Pirates of Penzance Foundry Theatre (5/12-6/07) |
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A Midsummer Night's Dream Seymour Centre (5/20-5/29) |
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HAIR - THE TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL Theatre Royal Sydney (6/06-7/05) |
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Rigoletto Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House (7/21-8/21) |
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Uked! The first play-along Ukulele musical Bondi Pavilion Theatre (6/18-6/28) |
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Collegium Musicum The Neilson, ACO On The Pier (6/13-6/13) |
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Prima Facie Roslyn Packer Theatre (6/03-6/21) |
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Play In A Day: Henry VI Part 2 The Neilson Nutshell, Pier 2/3 (9/15-9/15) |
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