Riverfire, The Brisbane Festival and Dump and Burn

I have said before that what I love about living in Australia is that there always seems to be something to do and it’s always something different.

Previously on BobinOz we have given you the opportunity to go on the last ever chair lift at the Ekka Festival, we have also taken you to the top of Mount Coot-tha to enjoy a daytime view of Brisbane City and we have also given you an extensive (and still extending) coverage of Queensland’s top 150 icons.

Today’s post combines all three.

Riverfire is at number four in the category ” events and festivals” from Queensland’s top icons lists, it is rumoured that this will be the last time the event will feature “dump and burn” and we are going to watch it, partly, from the top of Mount Coot-tha.

What is Riverfire?

Riverfire is a fireworks display along the Brisbane River that marks the opening of the Brisbane Festival, one of Australia’s leading international arts festivals. This year’s festival runs from 12 September to 3 October.

The festival began back in 1996 and has taken place every other year since then. That is, until now. From now on it’s every year! Between now and early October Brisbane will enjoy music, art, films and performances in various locations around the city.

What is dump and burn?

If an F-111 gets into trouble it has the ability to dump its fuel load before attempting an emergency (crash) landing. They can also set fire to the ejected fuel, which is kind of fun. So that’s exactly what they do at Riverfire.

Last year we went into the city to watch Riverfire from South Bank Parklands. Whilst it was fun, getting home wasn’t easy as 10,000 people all tried to board public transport at exactly the same time. So this year we decided to watch it from Mount Coot-tha.

See for yourself the (possibly) last ever dump and burn and compare it with last year’s event filmed from much closer.

You can probably tell for yourselves from watching the video that Mount Coot-tha was probably not a great idea, I think we will be going back to the city next time. I was surprised that we could hardly hear the fireworks at all. Being on a hill 6 km away wasn’t anywhere near as thrilling as being “there”. Mind you, I was more surprised last year watching it from the riverside when that F-111 flew over our heads, wasn’t expecting that one!

But we still had a great time, and the kids loved it and did I mention Riverfire is free?

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