If you’d like to experience a spectacular party, then block off Tuesday, the 13th of August 2019, on your calendar. Fluffy, the popular gay-friendly party scene, is hosting a Disney-themed party at The Family on McLachlan Street to celebrate the eve of the public holiday, EKKA Wednesday.
Be in your best Disney costume for this event to get a chance to win amazing prizes. The party will kick off at 9:00 p.m. and the celebration is expected to wind down at 5:00 a.m. the next day.
Fluffy brings a different brand of entertainment led by Holly Spirit, Brisbane’s premier showgirl. To experience this group’s performance would be a treat and a sensory experience.
Photo Credit: fluffynight/Instagram
Online booking to this fabulous Fluffy Disney party is not required. However, there will still be tickets costing between $20 to $25. Ticket purchases are done as you enter The Family.
In an elegant collaboration between Tim Gurner and the Signature Hospitality Groupled by CEO James Sinclair, the corner of Brunswick and Alfred Streets in Fortitude Valley has been revitalised with the 4th of July opening of the Foresters Restaurant and Bar, in what is now the Valley’s growing food and beverage precinct.
Heritage Roots
Built in 1889, Foresters Hall is an iconic heritage-listed building that has since gone through some major architectural facelifts whilst still staying true to its turn-of-the-century roots. Originally used by the Foresters and other Friendly societies as a social hub for their predominantly working-class members, the hall also subsequently became the Valley’s very first movie theatre, Cook’s Picture Palace, in 1910.
Photo Credit: WikimediaCommons
In later years, it became an appliance store, as the rest of the neighbourhood slowly declined before the resurgence that the area is experiencing today.
Old But New — Beautifully Repurposed
Currently one of the stops in the Vibrant Valley Heritage Trail, the handsome building’s distinctive facade, characterised by original exposed brick that are over a century old, natural timber detailing, large archways and metal tin tiles, has since been returned to its original glory, with some tastefully added new fixtures to update its look.
Now in its new incarnation, this iconic landmark gleams in its grand whiteness, the hawkishly cool exterior belying the regal warmth of its interior.
The feeling of warmth starts to build as one enters the beautifully restored entryway, into a 140-seat dining area, with large windows providing great views of both Alfred and Brunswick streets. A dimly-lit bar that can comfortably seat 60 people provides the perfect place for an end-of-day pick-me-up or a good weekend unwind.
Extremely elegant yet comfortable dining ambience is available for singles, couples and small groups. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner – from 6:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Get comfortable on one of their posh leather-covered seats and simply allow Chef Peter Popow, Foresters’ master wine and food pairing guru to work his magic. Just a quick tip – try their intriguingly named special Pornstar Martini or their Salted Caramel Espresso Martini, topped with pieces of popcorn. It’s a delightful tribute to the building’s cinematic past.
Photo Credit: Foresters Restaurant & Bar/Facebook
For Simon Barnes, general manager of Foresters, their modern Australian take on traditional gastropub fare is the key to satisfying their now-growing clientele. Visitors are mainly residents and upwardly mobile, young professionals who patronise the place for its cosy ambience, well-rounded wine selection, carefully curated cocktail list, and the opportunity to see and be seen.
Definitely a place to check out, if you’re in the area.
Are you a serious coffee drinker who can distinguish and appreciate the importance of a good brew? Do you embrace the caffeine culture and regard coffee drinking as a pleasurable hobby?
If you’re a coffee lover and you consider yourself a part of the burgeoning coffee community in Brisbane, then you will enjoy this event celebrating the best coffees in the country. Dubbed The Lane Coffee Festival, this event is taking place on Saturday, the 27th of July 2019, in three famous laneways in Fortitude Valley.
The best coffee suppliers in Australia, including underground roasters, will showcase their products at pop-up stores located around Bakery Lane, California Lane and Winn Lane in Fortitude Valley. Various bars, cafes and restaurants will also open stalls beginning 10 a.m. so that visitors can enjoy their coffee with their favourite food.
Photo Credit: The Lanes Coffee Festival/Facebook
These are the coffee brands and food establishments joining the Lanes Coffee Festival:
It can be overwhelming to try every shop at the festival so there will be coffee tours at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. This way, visitors will be able to try the drinks from the best establishments.
Other than sipping coffee, several activities have been lined up for coffee junkies. A fun Latte Art Smackdown will take place from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the California Lane main stage, while masterclasses are scheduled at the following sites:
Admission to The Lanes Coffee Festival is free but you’ll need to book tickets for the activities via Eventbrite. As of press time, slots for these masterclasses are sold out. However, additional sessions may open a few days before the event. Follow the updates on its events page.
Finally, Stone & Wood Fortitude Valley — Brisbane’s first brewery and taphouse will start pouring its finest beers in spring 2019!
“We originally hoped to open the brewery earlier, but due to the nature of working with a heritage-listed structure, the opening date was postponed so the building’s owner could undertake rectification work needed to install a working brewery,” the Stone & Wood announcement said.
The approved proposal to develop a new 90-seat venue, situated within the Trails Ltd Ice & Cold Stores heritage building, will feature a small brewery producing a rotating range of beers of about 600 litres at a time, exclusive for the on-site tasting room consumption.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Details of the development include a brewing equipment behind the main bar along the northern wall; beer hall and dining area; a kitchen; a function space; a small retail shop for takeaway beer and merchandise; ancillary office space; and a caretaker’s residence for on-site brewer.
2018 Backyard Invitational | Video Credit: Stone & Wood / Vimeo
“Alongside the recognisably Stone & Wood interior, merchandise outlet and the working brewery, there’ll be space for community events and training workshops for our trade partners – plus a range of our beers on offer.
Stone & Wood noted that whilst the venue will operate until 10pm daily, they will be not serving cocktails or spirits nor will there be TVs, pokies or a TAB.
“Ultimately, the brewery will be about drawing drinkers to the Fortitude Valley with something uniquely Stone & Wood. We imagine it to be a place for casual mid-week work drinks, Friday afternoon knock-offs and weekends out in the Valley. We see it, like our brewery in Byron Bay, as a place to slow down and connect.
“The building really is beautiful – wait til you see it! – and so we’ve prioritised its integrity and heritage elements. Work is currently underway to prepare the building across the coming months.”
Stone & Wood | 99 Bridge Street in Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley has welcomed a lot of new restaurants and bars in 2019, but it looks like there’s more to come as the suburb welcomes the Foresters Restaurant and Bar on Brunswick Street.
It’s taking over the old Forester’s Hall, which should give you a good idea of the size of the place — it’s over 1,000 square metres and will fit 300 in the bar and restaurant.
With its mid-year opening, the restaurant will feature modern Australian dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with ingredients to be sourced from local farmers and producers.
Spearheading the kitchen is chef Peter Popow, who has more than a decade of experience and worked across Australia and the UK. The executive chef promises to bring in pub staples like pizzas, burgers, and steaks.
The Forester Hall’s iconic facade will remain intact but many internal features will be changed, like the decorative pressed metal ceiling that will be relocated from the former cinema to the ground level.
Occupying the sixth level will be a swish rooftop bar dubbed Altitude, where locals can head over for an after-work drink whilst enjoying the views of the CBD. The 250-sqm bar will feature a hefty list of beverages, bar snacks, and DJs on the dance floor.
Both the Altitude and the Foresters Restaurant and Bar will be the first occupants of the $600 million FV Precinct. In charge of turning the heritage-listed site into a food and beverage precinct are FV’s developer and Signature Hospitality Group, the people behind The Sporting Globe and TGI Fridays.
Victoria Park Golf Complex, located in Herston Road, will undergo a massive transformation in 2021 to become a public park spanning 45 hectares.
Once completed, this site, to be named the Victoria Park Vision, will be the second biggest public park in Brisbane next to the Botanic Gardens in Mt Coot-tha.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced the Council’s plans for the golf course to the press. Mr Schrinner visualised that the park would be comparable to Central Park in New York City or Hyde Park in London, as a green sanctuary with a number of free attractions and other recreational amenities like pop-up cinemas and markets.
“About 26 hectares of this council land is currently used as a pay and play public golf course, which over recent years has seen a decline in patronage and a reduction in revenue,” Mr Schrinner said on Facebook.
“From 2021, works will start to transform the golf course into public parkland.”
Victoria Park Vision will be twice the size of the current golf course and will likely boost community connectivity across Bowen Hills, Herston, Kelvin Grove and the Brisbane showgrounds. Access and parking around this area will also be improved.
Meanwhile, Mr Schinner also said that the Council will work with current tenants that use Victoria Park Golf Complex as a wedding venue, events place, putt-putt course, and driving range. These features will also be incorporated in the planned public park.
Photo Credit: Victoria Park Golf Complex/Facebook
Photo Credit: Victoria Park Golf Complex/Facebook
Council has set aside $1 million for this project and public consultations for inputs into the design will soon be underway until 2020.
The new inner-north high school that is set to open in 2020 will be known as Fortitude Valley State Secondary College.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Treasurer and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, and Member for McConnel Grace Grace formally announced the name of the new school which the Premier described as a “game changer for Brisbane city.”
“The college will be the first high school to be built in Brisbane’s inner city in more than 50 years and I’m excited to be able to join with Grace to give the school an identity as it prepares for it’s opening on day one of the 2020 school year.”
Photo Credit: The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2019 / yoursay.buildingfutureschools.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au
Majority of the prospective students and parents who attended the consultation at the Holy Trinity Church Hall in Fortitude Valley, Ms Grace said, agree with the chosen name. Fortitude Valley State Secondary College will be welcoming its foundation Year 7 students in Term 1, 2020.
“Fortitude Valley is in this wonderful position at the moment where it’s right on the edge of something very exciting,” Foundation Principal Sharon Barker said.
“Acknowledging Fortitude Valley in the name of our school is a testament to both our location and the important role that we’d like our local community to play in developing the culture of our school.
“As a very proud state school principal, I look forward to welcoming students from every background and capability – this will bring great diversity which will be a strength of our new college,” Ms Barker said.
Photo Credit: The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2019 / yoursay.buildingfutureschools.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au
Fortitude Valley State Secondary College, designed by Cox Architecture, will be located on the site of the former Fortitude Valley State School on the corner of St Paul’s Terrace and Brookes Street and will feature a vertical design.
Hutchinson Builders is the official builder for the Stage 1 of Fortitude Valley State School which includes the performing arts centre, sports centre, and main vertical building. Once complete, the school will accommodate up to 1,500 students and will service students from Fortitude Valley, Newstead, Bowen Hills, and New Farm.
The final catchment area for the new Inner City North State Secondary College (ICNSSC) in Fortitude Valley has been released on 30 April 2019.
“After consulting with the local community late last year, the Department of Education has finalised the catchment for the new state high school, providing much-anticipated certainty for local families,” Ms Grace said.
Since 2011, inner-city children population has increased by about 30 percent, according to the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office (QGSO). This is expected to further increase by 3,000 over the next five years due to migration.
Once construction is completed, the state-of-the-art ICNSSC, located at St Pauls Terrace and Brookes Street in Fortitude Valley, is set to bring relief to the overcrowded inner-city schools.
Meet the Principal – Inner City North State Secondary College Video Credit: Queensland Department of Education / YouTube
The new catchment for ICNSSC comes with a few changes from the proposed catchment map released in November 2018. The changes resulted in a slight increase to the northeastern boundary and slight reduction to the northwestern, thereby altering eligibility zones for Kelvin Grove State College, Kedron SHS, and Aviation High.
The alterations were necessary modifications in order to avoid splitting the streets between catchments as well as to follow main roads and natural landmarks.
New Catchment Map | Photo Credit: The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2019 / yoursay.buildingfutureschools.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au
The new ICNSSC will open in 2020 to year 7 students, growing each year to 2025 when it is expected to accommodate 1,500 students in Years 7-12.
“It’s fantastic to achieve this milestone, which will allow us to open enrolments for the first cohort of Year 7 students, so they are ready to start school in Term 1, 2020.
“The feedback from the local community highlighted that the local inner northern Brisbane communities are very excited to be a part of this future-focused secondary college.”
Inner City North State Secondary College concept design | Photo Credit: The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2019 / yoursay.buildingfutureschools.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au
During the consultation period, the Department of Education received more than 250 preliminary expressions of interest for enrolments, according to ICNSSC Principal Sharon Barker.
“Now that the catchment has been finalised, all eligible families, including those that submitted a preliminary expression of interest, are now encouraged to apply to enrol at our school,” Ms Barker said.
The new ICNSSC, the first in Brisbane in more than 50 years and the first vertical high school in Qld, is part of the government’s $808 million Building Future Schools Fund and will be delivered in conjunction with the Queensland University of Technology.
The construction of the new school is well underway, Minister Grace said, particularly the Brookes Street precinct and junior learning building which will open for Year 7 in Term 1 of 2020.
It’s finally Brisbane’s turn to hold one of Australia’s popular festivals and for the first time ever, MOULD Cheese Festival will be coming to Fortitude Valley!
Set for Sunday, the 19th of May 2019, this cheese food fest will run for two sessions 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Lightspace on Scanlan Street. The best fromagers from Australia will be there to offer their finest products.
There will be over 50 kinds of cheeses to try at the MOULD Cheese Festival so expect this event to be a gastronomic delight for cheese lovers. The full cheese list is posted and updated on its official website.
Cheeses taste even better with wine so there will also be quite a selection of alcoholic beverage vendors at this event.
Photo Credit: Mould: A Cheese Festival/FacebookPhoto Credit: Mould: A Cheese Festival/Facebook
Cheesemongers will also showcase the art of cheesemaking, which should be quite the learning experience. By the end of the night, you’ll likely have a new appreciation for the process of making this sinfully tasty food!
Experience the latest trend in fitness as W Brisbane, the boutique hotel located at 81 North Quay, brings the very first silent disco yoga to this city.
On Wednesday, the 15th of May 2019, the hotel will hold an intensive 90-minute silent disco yoga class beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Great Room.
Australian fitness expert, Kate Kendall, the founder of Flow Athletic, will lead the session, while Sydney DJ James Mack will provide the beats before, during and after the class.
A silent disco yoga class is just like any vinyasa flow session, where students set their spaces on the floor while an instructor leads in front. However, everyone will be wearing a wireless headset the whole time to clearly hear the instructor and the background music, as well as block off the sound from the outside.
With the instructor’s voice and music more amplified, participants will feel more connected and energised to do the movements correctly without being distracted by other factors. They may also adjust the volume of the sounds coming from the headset to their preference.
Yogis attending the first silent disco yoga in Brisbane will get a swag bag filled with healthy treats. However, the first 40 people to book a slot will also receive an exclusive invitation to join a workshop for Disco Yoga oil blending. Sodashi founder Megan Larsen will conduct this class.
Slots to the silent disco yoga cost $59.11 inclusive of the booking fee. Participants need only bring their yoga mat, water bottle and towel. Drinks and snacks will be served for guests.
