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Mark Your Calendars! Exciting Events in Fortitude Valley Coming Up Soon

Looking for a little excitement in the coming months? Fortitude Valley is about to become a hotspot for a raft of exciting new events all lined up for 2021.

Night Noodle Markets – July 21 to August 1

Brisbane Night Noodle markets at the City Botanic Gardens — Photo credit: Good Food Month

To celebrate Good Food Month, the Brisbane Night Noodle Markets are back at an all-new and exciting venue: the City Botanic Gardens. Entry will be completely free, however registration is encouraged in order to comply with COVID-19 safety and prevention measures.

Attendants will be able to indulge themselves with delicious street food from all across Asia from countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Among the many stalls present throughout the event, people can expect to bump into familiar names such as Hoy Pinoy, Bao Brothers Eatery, Flying Noodles, and Bangkok Street Food.

Read more about the event at the Good Food Month website here.

Alanna Sapwell’s Esmay – July 25

Alanna Sapwell, formerly the head chef at Arc Dining, is set to open up Esmay, her pop-up restaurant, at the site of the kitchen at the old Alliance Hotel in Spring Hill for one day only as part of Good Food Month. Though she’s toured and set up shop all over Australia, the opening of Esmay marks her first time bringing the pop-up restaurant to Brisbane.

Esmay is a restaurant that offers comfort-style cooking that makes use of seasonal and regional ingredients with Sapwell’s innovative twists. On the 25th of July, two sittings will be available for lunch and another two sittings will be available for dinner.

Those interested in booking tickets for lunch and dinner can do so by clicking these links.

The Circus of Light – July 31 and August 21

The Circus of Light at Fortitude Valley — Photo credit: Facebook/Psycho Circus

The Fortitude Music Hall is scheduled to host a series of upcoming light shows hosted by Psycho Circus on the 31st of July 2021 and the 21st of August, dazzling the audience with a gorgeous circus performance complete with an immersive set of visual and sound dynamics.

Those interested can expect to see glitter face paint stalls, confetti cannons, daring acrobatic feats, lasers and light displays, a barrage of balloons, and plenty more — all while the beats of house, bass, and d&b music play in the background to bring the circus to life.

Entrance to the circus will be limited to attendees over the age of 18, and people are encouraged to put on their snazziest and boldest outfits for a spectacular evening to brighten up a dull and dreary winter.

Tickets can be purchased via this website, and for the latest updates and announcements concerning the circus, follow their Facebook event page.

Hey Chica! – August

Hey Chica! at Fortitude Valley — Photo credit: Facebook/Hey Chica

Fortitude Valley is about to receive a taste of Cuban life with Hey Chica, an upcoming social club, bar and restaurant along Brunswick St that boasts that it’s “the closest you’ll get to Cuba without a passport”.

Hey Chica comes fresh from the minds of the team behind Retro’s, however with this bar, customers can expect to lose themselves to a venue with the vibes of a local street party, complete with Latin American street food and cool cocktails.

The bar has been scheduled to open sometime in August at 315 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. For the latest updates and announcements concerning the bar and restaurant, visit their website or follow their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

Video Editing Platform Clipchamp in Fortitude Valley Rakes 14 Million Users

At the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Clipchamp had a 160 percent growth in new users. This Brisbane startup, headquartered in Fortitude Valley, continues to impress as it welcomes 2021 with a solid 14 million registered users from around the world.

The video editing platform, which launched in 2014, has made such an impact during the pandemic as companies and individual content creators shifted to video to stay in contact and facilitate a work-from-home environment or to consolidate their presence in their industries and niches when face-to-face meet-ups became too risky.

Co-founder and chief executive Alex Dreiling believes that Clipchamp being “in the right place at the right time” during COVID-19 has sealed the company’s position as a permanent platform of choice for the users. Because of their service, many users are now learning to do video editing themselves, instead of hiring professionals or agencies to make their videos.

The start-up’s platform provides video creators with the crucial tools needed to produce content without using expensive equipment, complicated software, or a substantial production experience. Its service empowers businesses to boost their profile and capacity to disseminate fresh content across many other channels, such as YouTube or TikTok.

In this day and age, when video content creation has ballooned into a $135 billion industry, Clipchamp is becoming essential for marketing. Thus, in 2020, the platform also launched additional features like webcam or screen camera recording, green screen options and audio/video separation.

The company’s staff also increased from 30 to 80, with workers coming from Red Hat, Facebook, Google and Amazon. It has offices in the U.S. and the Philippines as well and has a significant presence in Europe.

However, Mr Dreiling said Brisbane will remain its homebase and it’s where they will continue to develop their product even as they are heading for expansion.

Dine-in Igloos are Coming to Fortitude Valley

All throughout July, Brisbane will be able to cosy up and dine in with friends in their own private igloos at the Cielo Rooftop in Fortitude Valley.

From the 1st of July all the way until the 1st of August, pop up igloos will open up in Fortitude Valley — each coming complete with their own set of furniture, fairy lights, and fleece blankets to help bookers cosy themselves in. The best part? Each booking comes with food packages that come with their choice of drinks.

Those interested in reserving an igloo for themselves as well as their friends and loved ones can do so via this link. Igloo can be booked for up to 1.5 hours at a time. Each igloo can house 2 to 6 people; however, food options must be selected. Igloos cannot be reserved without ordering food packages.

Four different food packages will be available for bookings: the Standard Package, the Premium Package, the VIP Package, and the Vegan Package. Each package come with grazing boards with an array of snacks and finger foods, a main course, and either alcoholic beverages or soda.

The Standard Package entails a grazing board which contains prosciutto, mortadella, pecorino cheese, asiago cheese, hummus, olives, focaccia bread, and pickles as well as a main course in the form of a calamari and arancini plate. Drink options include sparkling, red or white wine, or beer per person.

The Premium Package, on the other hand, offers everything the Standard Package does with the addition of dessert in the form of Tiramisu Bomboloni: Italian doughnuts filled with Tiramisu cream and chocolate sauce. Additional drink options also include espresso martinis and aperol spritz.

However, the VIP Package offers everything the Premium Package does in addition beetroot cured salmon bruschetta and an oyster platter. Margaritas will also be available in the drinks list of this exciting package.

Lastly, the Vegetarian Package offers a completely different set of food options entirely in order to accommodate people’s dietary restrictions. The grazing board contains roasted capsicum, Evoo preserved eggplant, fried artichokes, stuffed olives, hummus, focaccia bread and pickles. Instead of a main course, dessert will be offered in the form of a raspberry tortino topped with chocolate mousse and berry coulis. Drink options are the same as those offered by the Standard Package.

Those interested in booking an igloo can do so by visiting this website.

The Winter Pop Up Igloo Dining event will be held at Cielo Rooftop, 209 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable but may be resold. Those unable to make it to their booked times and dates will lose their space unless they resell their tickets.

New Louis Vuitton Flagship Store Moving into NAB Heritage Site

Good news for Brisbane shopaholics and fashionistas! Did you know that high-end fashion brand Louis Vuitton will soon open a new flagship store at the former National Australia Bank building on Queen Street?

According to the development application (DA A005719018), Place Design Group will do minor changes to the heritage-listed building but much of its facade and appearance will not be altered. There will be some markings on the front side in the form of branding or advertising the new tenancy.

Some walls on the basement level will be taken down to expand the floor area and create a spacious open plan. The mezzanine level, on the other hand, will be fitted with a glass balustrade to deliver a sophisticated shopping experience that many Louis Vuitton fans are so used to. Larry Weston Architect will help Place Design Group in the transformation.

Photo Credit: Developmenti/Brisbane City Council

“The proposal represents a great outcome for the City of Brisbane and the Queen Street Mall with a highly regarded global fashion house showing confidence in Brisbane’s retail sector which was has been significantly impacted by the COVID 19 virus,” the developers said.

Country Road was the tenant of the said building for many years. Constructed in the late 1920s, this structure has a neo-classical design which was common to bank buildings during this period.

With this new occupancy, Louis Vuitton will give up its prominent site on the corner of Edward and Queen Streets but there’s no news on what establishment will take over the soon-to-be-vacant property.

It comes as Louis Vuitton invested $11 million to refurbish its flagship store on George Street in 2018.

Fortitude Valley to Welcome Cindy Chow Bar with Burlesque Shows

Fortitude Valley, prepare to be in awe! A revival of the liberating nightlife of underground parlours in the 1920s will heat up Brunswick Street as Cindy Chow, a bar and theatre with burlesque shows, will mark its opening soon.

Conceptualised by nightlife hospitality bigwigs Patrick Donohue and Justin Kong, Cindy Chow has been inspired by Shanghai’s clandestine venues or speakeasy bars during the Prohibition Era. She is a fictional character, imagined as the star of an entertainment venue that served booze and held an illegal gambling operation patronised by Americans and Europeans.

“From these times, one lady ruled the darkest of secrets including drinking, gambling and eroticism. This is her story. A tale of black market dealing and gunshot blasts, high powered boats and plenty of late night street fights. The story of an exceptional life of a lady they called CINDY CHOW,” the operators teased on the official website.

To go with the theme, the fit-out of Cindy Chow will feature Chinese awnings, Chinese pottery, golden Buddhas, jade and red upholstery, tables with a lazy Susan, and a stage for the burlesque shows planned for the weekends.

The appeal and the presentations, however, will be as tasty as the food and drinks to be offered at the bar. There will be an initial 10 types of cocktail drinks that will taste better with choices of Asian bar food like san choy bao, canapes, and duck pancakes.

Cindy Chow is projected to open in late May or early June 2021. More details, including the exact location, will be revealed until then.

True Spirit Double-Decker Gin Bus Now Touring Brisbane

The West End-based Brisbane Distillery’s latest double-decker gin bus, aptly named “The True Spirit”, is finally operational, setting up at the Riverside Markets every Sunday and touring the city every other day.

After making its first appearance on Sunday the 9th of May 2021 at the Riverside Markets, The True Spirit has been making rounds across Brisbane.

Here, customers will be able to book a booth in the buses’ top level and be served three cocktails for $24.99, however those who simply wish to visit can enjoy free samples of the mobile bar’s selection: Brisbane Distillery’s Game of Eucalyptus Gin, Queensland Dry Gin, and Brown Snake Rhum.

The minds behind this double-decker bus are none other than Brisbane Distillery, the creators of the gin school, distillery and bar in West End. The True Spirit has been in development for a long time. Now, it’s finally complete and serves as a mobile bar, with a counter and bartender on the bottom level and a roofed lounge area up top.

Photo credit: Instagram/Brisbane Distillery

Brisbane residents might be able to see The True Spirit driving from street to street as it makes its way towards its next stop. Customers will be able to purchase drinks and grab a seat whenever the vehicle is parked. Stocking its shelves is a collection of gin, tonic, and other essentials needed to create a slew of gin-based cocktails.

Since the Brisbane Distillery has obtained the license necessary to operate all throughout Brisbane, people can expect to see it just about everywhere, whether it be parked outside markets or even close to private residences for parties and celebrations.

Though The True Spirit’s location is never fixed as people can make bookings for the site of its next appearance, Brisbane Distillery can be found at 99 Jane St, West End, open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. onwards with the exception of Saturdays, in which case the distillery opens at 12:00 p.m.

Those interested in reserving The True Spirit can make bookings via this link. For more information, visit their website here. Follow their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates on their double-decker gin buses’ location, as well as any other special announcements.

Sushi on Q410, the Latest Sushi Place in Fortitude Valley

Fresh from the minds of William and Jenny Kim, the duo behind Brisbane City’s Sushi Kim and Sunnybank’s Sushi Paradise, the all-new ‘Sushi on Q410’ is the latest sushi place that’s rapidly becoming a star in Fortitude Valley.

The restaurant, which opened in March 2021, offers quality Japanese food for takeaway prices, with their menu featuring some classic sushi dishes such as handmade nori rolls and salmon nigiri, as well as some more unique meals like their fusion sushi rolls.

Customers on a budget who wish to satisfy their cravings for high-grade Japanese food need not look any further. Sushi aside, the restaurant’s menu also offers some famous Japanese rice dishes such as katsudon, shrimp tempura, honey chili chicken, and japanese curry, all for under $13.

The joint’s unique design aesthetic allows people to unwind and relax amidst exposed red brick walls, hanging and potted plants, and dark timber furniture that makes for a rustic atmosphere.

The restaurant can be found at 410 Queen St, Brisbane City, open Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more information, and for the latest updates on meals, deals, and other special announcements, follow their Facebook page.

Archdiocese of Brisbane Lodges Commercial Development Application for St Patrick’s Church

A development application detailing plans to construct an eight-storey building next to St Patrick’s Church in Fortitude Valley was submitted by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane to the Brisbane City Council.

Filed in early April 2021, the development application (DA A005698653) cites that the mixed-use building will also have various public areas, including a communal rooftop terrace overlooking the southeast section of Morgan Street. Views of the church from McLachlan and James Streets will not have any obstructions.

The second to the seventh level of the building will be leased to commercial and office establishments. The plan also includes two levels of basement parking to accommodate 132 cars and 115 bikes. If approved, the construction will take up 2,441 square metres of space or about 23 percent of the land.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese said that the commercial site will ensure that St Patrick’s Church, one of the oldest churches in the city, will thrive and continue to support the community for years to come.

St Patrick’s Church has been a landmark for more than 140 years. Built around 1880-1882, the property was entered into the Queensland Heritage Listing in 1992 for its cultural, historical and religious significance for Fortitude Valley residents.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Brisbane is also currently overseeing the refurbishments of St Stephen’s Cathedral. As with St Patrick’s Church, this historical site has been a vital part of the community for more than 150 years.

Cluedo Comes to Life in New Fortitude Valley Event

Fortitude Valley is about to become the stage for the Brisbane Immersive Ensemble’s latest event ‘Cluedo! The New Suspects’ — a new twist on a classic game that brings the board to life.

The Brisbane Immersive Ensemble invites Brisbane to put on their fanciest outfits and get their game on by taking part in their latest interactive experience, Cluedo! The New Suspects, which will feature the cast of the classic board game, reimagined.

In order to create a fully immersive session that makes for an unforgettable night of drinks and detective work, trained actors will channel the characters present in the original Cluedo, and participants will be able to explore a series of scenes and backdrops accompanied by live music from a 1950s big band.

Much like the original game, participants will have to search the area for clues and find hidden items, and the fully interactive cast means people will be free to question suspects to solve the mystery — all while enjoying glasses of wine provided by Baedeker, the venue of the event.

Cluedo! The New Suspects will run from April 29 to May 13 at the wine bar Baedeker. Those interested in learning more can visit their Facebook event page. Tickets can be booked via this website, with prices starting at $72.75. Each session will commence at 7:00 p.m. sharp, and participants will have to be 18 years old or older.

Baedeker can be found at 111 Constance St, Fortitude Valley, open from 4:00 p.m onwards on Friday and Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. onwards on Sunday. For more information, visit their website here.

Follow their social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and announcements. Get acquainted with the Brisbane Immersive Ensemble by visiting their website and following their Facebook page.

Roma Street Parkland Free Parking Area to be Sold to Developers

Around 150 free parking spaces at Roma Street Parkland could be removed and replaced with a pay parking facility once the section between College Road and Parkland Boulevard is sold to developers as part of the State Government’s Cross River Rail project.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority (CRRDA) released plans to build residential and commercial towers around Roma Street Parkland as it anticipates population growth upon the completion of Cross River Rail.

Details of the redevelopment showed the inclusion of the area currently used as the visitors’ free parking space, as well as the maintenance compound for the operators of the parklands.

Brisbane City Council, the manager of the parklands, has lodged a complaint against this plan to the State Government, which owns the land.

“I don’t know where the State Government thinks all the current lawnmowers, tractors, maintenance equipment and staff facilities will go or where the 149 car parking spaces will be relocated to once 12 story buildings are developed,” Councillor Vicki Howard wrote in her appeal to stop the redevelopment.

“If you are concerned, join me by emailing your thoughts today to central.ward@bcc.qld.gov.au,” Ms Howard added. “Let’s try and convince the State Government that we need to support and protect our open spaces, not sell them off to developers.”

Meanwhile, work on the Roma Street station construction continues with the excavation of the tunnels.

Per the CRRDA, the Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) are “scheduled to reach the new Roma Street station cavern mid-year” following work on Albert Street. Expect traffic and pedestrian changes in the surrounding streets.