Dodge and I aren’t exactly fans of crowds, so the only way that you’ll get us close to an event like Riverfire is from a Brisbane CBD office block, or in the case of this year, a friend’s place with a view. We missed the CA-17 Globemaster flypast, however we were in Southbank on Thursday when it did its practice runs. Loud. Low. Impressive. And feeling a bit sorry four ourselves that we missed it today.

We did see the Roulettes in acrobatic action, though. I frantically ran about the house, trying to get us ready and organised for the bus that would deliver us to the CBD in time for the performance. Not sure why I bothered – the kids took one look at them in the sky and went back to bouncing over someone else’s lounge with sticky fingers from the donuts they’d pilfered off the table. The next 90 minutes basically became a war between me, the kids, someone else’s lounge and the stress-free health of their aquarium fish…

By the time the EA-18 Growlers flew by at 5.30pm, Planet Duplo was in the midst of screaming at anyone who would listen that she wanted some blueberries (carrying around the punnet of blueberries I’d packed for them, now half-squashed and thankfully not smeared over the lounge or embedded in the carpet). The EA-18 was so loud it drowned her out. It was so awesome that she forgot about the blueberries for the rest of the evening. Instead, she dragged a chair up to the balcony to lean over for a better look (on the 39th (top) floor of the building). Skuzz, never far behind, tried to climb the glass-panelled balustrade beside her. I became a nervous wreck.

The fireworks didn’t disappoint and were worth the stress I’d endured at trying to keep the kids from destroying the joint or free-falling over the side of the balcony. Fireworks were not only set off from the river directly in front of us, but also from the neighbouring (lower) roofs of the buildings around us. In the end, we had fireworks, and remnants of fireworks, passing literally within a few metres of us. An amazing experience!

About Riverfire

Riverfire is an all-ages event featuring aircraft and fireworks that closes the Brisbane Festival. Over the years, it has become an iconic event for Brisbane, but for those unfamiliar with it, military aircraft complete a series of flyovers throughout the afternoon before the fireworks are unleashed in the sky.

The fireworks are launched from boats in the Brisbane River around the CBD section – essentially from (and including) the Victoria Bridge at Southbank through to the Story Bridge at Kangaroo Point. Fireworks are also launched from buildings in the CBD, bridges over the river and other mototrised craft as they move along the river. The Story Bridge becomes a focal point of the fireworks, particularly in the finale phases.

Best vantage points are along South Bank and Kangaroo Point, through the Eagle Street waterfront precinct and from the parks around the Story Bridge. Vantage points along Kangaroo Point give great views of both stretches of the river and of the CBD buildings.