Brisbane Shopping and Entertainment

Shopping points!

The heart of Brisbane’s Central Business District shopping area is the pedestrianized Queen Street Mall. The mall now showcases two state-of-the-art entertainment venues, four open-air restaurants, much public art and seasonally rotated landscape design. The large Myer Centre is at its core and contains department stores and more than 200 individual shops. There is also a dining court and food hall offering a variety of international fast food. Both are crowded with office workers at lunchtime. On the fifth floor there is an indoor roller coaster, popular with both children and adults.

Other shopping arcades, all in or near the Queen Street Mall, are Broadway on the Mall, Brisbane Arcade and Rose Arcade. The Wintergarden has fashion and jewellery.

Inner suburbs, such as Paddington and Milton, have a range of interesting arts and crafts galleries and bookshops. Australian opals are tax free to international visitors and are available from a few specialist stores such as Quilpie Opals. Aboriginal art and artifacts can be found in Aboriginal Creations.

Eagle Street is a popular weekend market site and is the best place to go for good-value local arts and crafts. Brisbane’s shopping hours are 9am to 5:30pm, Monday to Thursday, and until 9pm on Friday. Most shops are open 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Entertainment

The south bank precinct is the main entertainment centre in the city: the Queensland Performing Arts Centre produces both concerts and drama. South Bank Parklands has a range of street performers, bands, shows and an outdoor cinema. Jazz can be enjoyed at various clubs, and discos are a feature in the Riverside area or Caxton Street in Petrie Terrace.

For those who want to try their hand at blackjack and other gambling pursuits, the Conrad Brisbane Treasury Casino is at the Brisbane River end of Queen Street Mall.

Details of all the current entertainment events in the city can be found in free listings magazines such as This Week in Brisbane, Hello Brisbane and Time Off. Tickets for the majority of Brisbane’s events can be obtained from Ticketek.