David Berthold has announced his fifth and final program as Artistic Director of the Brisbane Festival, and it is, he says, the biggest and most ambitious of the lot.

“This year’s Brisbane Festival is without doubt, the most adventurous we’ve ever undertaken. The Festival has matured enormously in recent years, and we thought the time had come to shift the goalposts,” said Berthold.

Last year, in the Festival brochure, he divided the program into Acts One, Two and Three as a way for visitors to sift through the shows on offer. This year he has used the themes Revels, Revelations and Romances as a way to shape the program – and there are plenty of events to pore over within the three umbrella titles. Over 900 artists from around the world will descend on Brisbane to perform in 454 performances of 83 shows between September 6 and 28.

Yang Liping’s Rite of Spring. Photograph © Qiansheng Zhao

Highlights include the multi-artform Invisible Cities, Yang Liping’s Rite of Spring, an expanded Symphony For Me from Queensland Symphony Orchestra, two productions from South Africa’s acclaimed Isango Ensemble including its St Matthew Passion, and Dancenorth’s new work Communal Table.

Among...