Free things to do in Brisbane

You can fill a lot of a Brisbane week without opening your wallet. Free is the biggest single slice of our calendar, and it reaches right across the Council area. The State Library of Queensland at South Bank runs the most of it, but the branch-library network does the heavy lifting in the suburbs: Wynnum, Garden City at Upper Mount Gravatt, Sunnybank Hills, Carindale, Indooroopilly and Brisbane Square all run full free programs. Add free entry at the Museum of Brisbane and the Gallery of Modern Art, plus guided walks and sessions in the parks, and the map takes in the inner city and the outer suburbs alike. The mix leans to kids’ activities and community sessions, then hands-on workshops, live music, art and nature, with plenty for adults and seniors as well as children. It’s a weekday-daytime calendar first: Wednesday and Thursday are the busiest, Sunday the quietest. The South Bank venues sit by the Cultural Centre busway and a short walk from South Bank and South Brisbane stations; the suburban libraries are on local bus routes, with Garden City on the South East Busway.