The 7 Best Things To Do In Brisbane This January
Sure, you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to hit the gym six times a week and you’re only checking Twitter once a day. Uh-huh, sure. Why not make a resolution to check out all Brisbane has to offer?
In January alone, you can take wizarding classes, visit the Large Hadron Collider, go to a gallery’s birthday party, or crawl through a tunnel made of tape.
[listicle]No Mo’ FOMO
Lay down your picnic blanket with the confidence of a person settling in to binge an entire season of Orange is the New Black, FOMO is the music festival for when you don’t wanna miss a thing. A lazy summer arvo session to be enjoyed with friends, FOMO brings world-class talent, including Metro Boomin, Empire of the Sun, Peking Duk, Flosstradamus, and Slumberjack – all to the one stage. FOMO hits Riverstage on January 7.
Photo: FOMO Festival/Facebook
Lumos!
If you don’t have kids, now’s the time to borrow your niblings. The Luminarium Festival is a weekend of workshops focussing on STEM – specifically, magic-themed STEM. Wizards aged five to 13 (and their muggle guardians) will learn about science and maths by taking master-classes in potion-making, study philosophy by writing new dystopias, or get inventing in the Shark Tank. You can even enter the Try-Wizard Tournament to try out your new skills. The Luminarium runs at the Gap State Primary School from January 10 to 11.
GO(MA) all out
Brisbane’s beloved Gallery of Modern Art turns 10 in 2017, so naturally, there’ll be treats. Sugar Spin is a sweet-as exhibition of 250 artworks that explore light, space, architecture and the senses. There are new works to enjoy, like Nervescape, an installation made entirely out of colourful synthetic hair, as well as a chance to revisit old favourites like Ron Mueck’s giant In Bed and Carsten Höller’s floor-to-ceiling Left/Right Slide. To top it all off, GOMA hosts a five-day birthday party with artist workshops, performances and films at the Summer Festival, which runs from January 18 to 23.
Tape me to your leader
The whackiest play space to hit Queensland since the Myer Centre had its own rollercoaster, Ipswich Art Gallery hosts a playground constructed out of 56 000 metres of transparent packing tape. While the installation – designed by US artist Eric Lennartson – is intended for children, grown-ups are welcome to explore the funnel web-like tunnels and slides as well. TapeScape holds Ipswich Art Gallery together until February 25.
Photo: Ipswitch Art Gallery/Facebook
Golden Gaytimes
Celebrate Brisbane’s diverse queer communities when Melt deluges the Powerhouse later this month. Drag icons Jonny Woo and Le Gateau Chocolat will make a ‘Les Misérmassacre’ of all your fave show tunes in A Night at the Musicals; Vulcana circus – always intimate, always disruptive – brings their new show, Quiver; join two vulvas on a Bollywood epic in The Adventures of Yoni 1 and Yoni 2; or chill out and read awesome new queer comics for free in the foyer. Melt runs at Brisbane Powerhouse from January 25 to February 5.
Photo: Virtual Drag: Serving VR Realness
You had me at Hadron
This award-winning exhibition direct from the London Science Museum celebrates the science and scientists behind the CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator that brought us such discoveries as the Higgs boson in 2012. The real thing is big enough that it’s buried under both Switzerland and France, but this exhibition captures the scale of wonder and brainpower required to smash together particles so tiny that having them collide is, according to CERN, like “firing two needles 10 kilometres apart with such precision that they meet halfway.” Boss. The exhibition runs at Queensland Museum runs until April 25.
Breathe deep
Start the new year with some heckin’ peace and quiet by joining Deep Peace meditation sessions at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga in West End. These classes guide you through breathing, meditation and relaxation techniques – three times a week, for just a gold-coin donation. All you have to do is show up and calm down.[/listicle]
(Lead image: FOMO Festival/Facebook)
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