community
Your Weekend, Sorted: A New Community Events Calendar for Brisbane
From neighbourhood gatherings to cultural festivals, here's how to find what's on near you.
How we reported this
Brisbane’s never been short of things to do, but keeping track of them all has always been the hard part. A new community-run events calendar launching this month aims to fix that, pulling together everything from West End markets to Fortitude Valley art walks in one place.
The idea started when residents in inner-north suburbs kept missing local markets and workshops because they didn’t know they were happening. “It’s a classic problem,” says organiser Kate Miller, a Greens organiser who has been helping coordinate the project. “People want to support their community, but if the info’s scattered across five Facebook groups and a council newsletter, they just give up.”
The calendar is different from council or tourism lists. It’s run entirely by volunteers, and anyone in Brisbane can submit an event for free. That includes everything from small community theatre shows in Kelvin Grove to weekend pop-ups in West Village.
Why it matters now
The timing is deliberate. With international students returning after visa rule changes and a growing number of locals looking for low-cost entertainment, demand for grassroots events has surged. The calendar fills a gap left by commercial listings that often miss smaller, free or donation-based gatherings.
One of the first test events was a dog-friendly street market in New Farm in late June, which saw 300 visitors on a Saturday morning. Miller says the feedback prompted the team to launch the full calendar ahead of schedule.
What’s on the calendar
Listings so far include a monthly book swap at the Paddington library, a Sunday morning yoga session in the Roma Street Parkland, and a series of bush tucker walks along the Brisbane River. Each event includes start time, location, cost (if any), and contact details for the organiser.
The platform also highlights accessibility, noting wheelchair-friendly venues and events with Auslan interpretation. Miller says that’s a deliberate choice. “A lot of great events were unintentionally excluding people just because the info wasn’t clear.”
The calendar is not the only initiative aiming to connect locals. The Greens have been fielding questions from community groups across the city about how to replicate the model in their own neighbourhoods. A public workshop is being planned for August to walk through the process.
Anyone can submit an event at the project’s website, and organisers promise a new batch of listings every Thursday. For now, the team is focused on building momentum. If the early response is anything to go by, Brisbane’s community calendar might just become the go-to for anyone tired of asking, “So, what’s on this weekend?”