Backbone Festival has become a local institution. For three weeks in October, creatives aged 18-30 take over the Seven Hills Hub space for the annual celebration of art, theatre, music, and more. The festival provides a platform for Magandjin’s community of Young Artists to present new works their way, start conversations and push boundaries.

This year, attendees will be the first to see the next generation of artistic change makers in action with everything from experimental work, installations, artist talks, immersive theatre and so much more. NEHIB spoke to Backbone Producer Talisa Pariss-Proby about the focus of this year’s festival and what you simply must see.

What's new about this year's festival? Is there anything that feels particularly distinctive about this year’s festival and the artists involved?

This year’s festival is bigger and bolder than ever before - with twelve artists-in residence shows, multiple artist talks and free events, Backbone alumni presenting work as well as play readings and art installations, Backbone Festival continues to grow and cement itself as Queensland’s major platform for young emerging artists aged 18-30.
What is distinct about Backbone Festival is what makes it such a unique platform every year from other festivals; that it exists solely for young emerging artists. For young artists, being part of Backbone Festival means they will be seen, their voices will be heard and their ideas will jumpstart them to the next level. For audiences, that means every year they can visit Backbone Festival and are guaranteed to get in on the ground level and see these artists here first. They are supporting art that belongs to the next generation of cultural change makers.
You’re not just seeing a show at Backbone Festival. You are part of the stories that start here.

What's on the program and what are you excited about?

Between truly Australiana stories (Jarjum, A Drop Too Many, Bring A Very Big Net), girlhood anthems (Our Dog Comet, Susie Sex Binge), festival experiences (Cloud Bank, Artist Talks hosted by Shock Therapy and Counterpilot), literary deep dives (Hemingway, New Classics) and experimental and political theatre (USB, Synapse, and The Ratture!), audiences are guaranteed to find something they will be talking about until the next festival.
This year I’m particularly keen on our BACKBONE FESTIVAL: OFFSTAGE events. In Weeks 2 and 3 this involves our TECHS ON TECH Artist Talk hosted by Counterpilot and ON WRITING Artist Talk hosted by Shock Therapy Arts, both industry-leading companies that are lending their voices and their support to the next generation of young artists joining them on these panels.
If you’re thinking of writing your first show, or you’re toying with experimental theatre, get along to these free events!

What do you hope an artist gets out of presenting work at Backbone, beyond simply having a season or putting something on stage?

At the heart of what we do here at Backbone is create pathways - but this doesn’t just mean linking emerging artists to venues, programmers, and festivals where they will continue to produce work. It means giving artists the skills, confidence and connections to continue creating work themselves, across all sorts of contexts.
An artist might leave Backbone knowing how to pitch a show to a festival, produce their own work outdoors, collaborate with another artist, apply for funding, work with a venue, or build a creative team around an idea. We want them to understand not just how to make a show, but how to navigate an industry and create opportunities for themselves.
It also means connecting these emerging artists with one another; interlinking their communities and contacts, broadening their trusted collaborators, and connecting them with future colleagues. Community only serves to strengthen us and those connections ensure these artists have trusted networks as well as pathways for the future.
This is how we create a strong foundation for artists and this is how we create future employment.

What do you think young artists are saying, making or questioning right now that the wider arts sector needs to be paying attention to?

Young artists are questioning the way the arts industry has traditionally worked, who gets opportunities and the old assumptions about what theatre and art is supposed to look like.
The wider arts sector, as well as audiences, need to be paying attention to these artists and should be doing all they can to champion them. They aren’t just local artists that should be featured because they’re homegrown, they are the foundation of the industry. These are the artists who will become the next generation of performers, directors, writers, producers, designers, technicians, arts workers and cultural leaders - and they are already doing the work.
You can see that questioning reflected in the work itself. Across this year’s festival, artists are grappling with an increasingly connected and information-heavy world, looking at the absurdity of the world around us and questioning how society is shaped, influenced and manipulated by the media. There’s a real sense of artists trying to make sense of the world they’ve inherited - while simultaneously asking whether they want to accept it as it is.

Finally, if someone has never been to Backbone Festival before, what would you tell them about why they should come along this year?

Nowhere else can you experience theatre and storytelling like you can here at Backbone Festival; come along on a Saturday and you can bounce between 1980’s girlhood power, to the literary stoicism of Hemingway, hear artists and industry leaders chat about what’s next, pair it with a Yowie-hunting comedy or an art installation and finish it off with a drink from our festival brewing partner, the fantastic local 27 South Brewing. It’s a festival day out that supports the future of the arts right here in Queensland.
Backbone Festival is profound, entertaining, immersive, experimental, and a creative vibe that will sustain you from the ground level up.

Backbone Festival runs 1-17 October 2026 at The Seven Hills Hub, Seven Hills.

“Bigger and bolder than ever”: Backbone Festival returns to showcase the next generation of creative changemakers

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