OUT OF THE BOX Festival Returns to QPAC in June

The Queensland Performing Arts Centre's Out of the Box festival will return to take over the entire venue from 17 to 22 June 2025. More than a million children have attended Out of the Box since its beginnings in 1992, and after a seven-year hiatus, the celebrated festival returns for a week dedicated to arts-rich participatory experiences curated especially for young children.

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Featuring a huge line-up of performances (including three world premieres), workshops, free events and exhibitions, the festival will see QPAC partner with Queensland Museum, State Library of Queensland, and QAGOMA to deliver activities across the Queensland Culture Centre.

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The theme of the 2025 festival is HOPE, showcased in the large-scale Tree of Hope art installation across the Cultural Centre. This project will feature artworks created by Queensland children, bringing their unique expressions of hope to life. As part of Out of the Box’s regional outreach, schools across regional and remote Queensland will be invited to create their own Trees of Hope which will be installed as part of the festival site design to celebrate the hopes and dreams of the next generation.

Created by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble, the world premiere of Wolfgang in the Stars will float into the Concert Hall where a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will journey through space to find inspiration for his timeless early masterpiece “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in a performance filled with incredible acrobatics, humour, and video projections. 

Another world premiere will be on offer in the Playhouse where Monkey Baa Theatre Company in a co-production with QPAC will bring to life the beloved children’s book Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek. Written for the stage by Eva Di Cesare, this beautiful production blends puppetry and animation with the voices of children, inviting young audiences to find that elusive green sheep.

Gurril Storm Bird, an adaptation of a prize-winning book by Trevor (Bumi) Fourmile also makes its world premiere, featuring traditional storytelling, song and movement created in collaboration with the jarjum from Hymba Yumba Independent School, Yidinji Traditional Owners and First Nations creatives. The Cremorne Theatre will be transformed into an engaging and immersive experience of First Nations storytelling for children.  

Fittingly taking up the largest space in the Lyric Theatre will be the return of The Gruffalo after sell-out seasons around the world. The magical, musical adaptation from CDP and Tall Stories is based on the award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 

Interactive performances will be held outside the usual theatre spaces, including Club Origami by Sydney Dance Company and Seven Circles in the Tony Gould Gallery where dance and live music meet origami. 

The Lost Lending Library by UK immersive theatre company Punchdrunk Enrichment, welcomes children into a magical library that leaps from place to place seeking incredible imaginations and new stories. This extraordinary experience is presented by Out of the Box and Queensland Theatre in association with Imaginary Theatre, coming together to spark curiosity, creativity, and a love of storytelling in every child.

Sensorium Theatre, Australia’s leading theatre company making work specifically designed for young audiences with disability, will present Wonderbox in the Playhouse Studio 1.  With immersive projections, delightful surprises, and kooky-carnival characters, every child’s curiosity is celebrated as they discover magical versions of themselves in a wondrous, multi-sensory experience. 

A variety of workshops are on offer including hands-on experiences in the kitchen with the Little Chefs cooking workshop with QPAC’s chefs in the Lyrebird Restaurant. Meditation and artistic expression follow in the Mindful Me health and wellbeing workshop, or children can discover more about our country through song and traditional language from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Songwoman Jessie Lloyd in the Sing on Country music workshop. 

As a proud Brisbane festival, Out of the Box wouldn’t be complete without everyone’s favourite blue heeler – Bluey! In the fun-filled Bluey Puppetry workshop, kiddos will make their own sock puppet inspired by the hit TV series and bring it to life through a playful and interactive puppetry demonstration. It’s the perfect chance to get crafty and explore creative play and storytelling. 

Every morning there will be a For Mothers workshop, exclusively for new mums to explore ancestral and creative practices to reinvigorate and reimagine parenting for the modern mama alongside their bubs. This will then become a free space throughout the remainder of the day for mothers to access throughout the festival. 

Between performances and workshops, children can attend one of the free drop-in events by adding to the Tree of Hope or joining Let’s Dance! a giant dance party on the Melbourne Street Green led by Neridah Waters and the Common People Dance Project. The QPAC Tunnel will host the Jarjum Life Museum by Inala Wangarra, a museum like no other created by jarjum (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children) and then extend their experience with the Jarjum PlaySpace in the Playhouse Lounge where jarjum can interact with a special version of Jarjum Life Museum created exclusively for Out of the Box. 

Minister for Education and the Arts John-Paul Langbroek said the return of QPAC’s Out of the Box festival was fantastic news for families, kindergartens, and school communities. 

  

“The festival’s program of hands-on arts and innovative productions will inspire creative learning for children, their parents and carers, as well as their teachers,” the Minister said. 

  

“Out of the Box will span the entire South Bank Cultural Centre precinct with the Art Box for Kids project and Moments of Wonder workshops at QAGOMA, Spirits of the Wild workshops at Queensland Museum, and the State Library of Queensland’s Scavenger Hunt. 

  

“For 40 years, QPAC has presented vibrant, high-quality programs for audiences of all ages, bolstering the state’s reputation as a prime arts and cultural destination.” 

QPAC Chief Executive Rachel Healy celebrated the return of this important festival to QPAC in the year of the Centre’s 40th birthday. 

“Out of the Box is, without doubt, one of our most loved and most impactful events and we couldn’t be happier to be announcing its return,” Ms Healy said. 

“When QPAC first launched Out of the Box in 1992, no one could have predicted the enduring legacy this special festival would have.  

“It fills our hearts to meet parents bringing their children to the festival that they themselves attended as a kindy kid, and to see teachers passionate about their students attending because their own love of the arts began at Out of the Box.

“One of the key ingredients in the festival’s success has been the commitment to putting children at its centre. Every step of the Out of the Box journey is taken with children in mind, from the development of new work and the curation of in-theatre productions and workshops through to the thoughtfully adapted onsite experience to ensure a welcoming and child-friendly environment.” 

This event is part of the QPAC 40 program, celebrating 40 years of curiosity, inclusion, gathering and stories. 

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