September 12 was a night of all nights in Brisbane as the city opened its annual Brisbane River Festival. QBE Riverfire certainly delivered its promise last year to bring this year a bigger and definitely better opening to the hugest festival Queensland has ever seen. It was a night of musical and pyrotechnic extravaganza as the city’s skies, bridges, buildings, riverbanks, and even backyards came to life as hundreds of thousands of bystanders came to witness the spectacle of the opening night festivities.
The party burst before the sun went down. The roar of F-111 strike jets signaled the beginning of a truly spectacular fireworks display. To many people, it was historical as talks circulated that it was the last time the F-111 would be seen dumping and burning (Zippo, after the name of a popular cigarette lighter brand) as part of the annual celebration. By next year (2010), the aircrafts’ role in the festivities would be taken over by Super Hornets.

The night was cold, but still, many people went out to behold the spectacle. Past 7 p.m., fireworks started sprouting from apparently three different locations (along the river, from the river, and from tall city buildings). Bystanders experienced being actually surrounded by fireworks. Nobody could contest the fact that the sky that night was splendid—black with contrasts of colorful light sparkles.

The magnificence was ended by another F-111 performance about half an hour later. By that time, the festival and the fireworks had pumping background music, courtesy of Triple M 104.5 FM’s outside broadcast. The event was also covered live on television by Channel Seven. Yes, the fireworks seemed to dance along with the vibrant music.

To complete the musical experience, American rock star Chris Isaak started, about an hour after the breathtaking fireworks display. By that time, the crowd congregated more to the river stage, coming from various sides. The energy level was so high that everyone was practically raving especially when Chris decided to walk right into the audience, who sang along with his songs at the same time. Many people felt lucky to take photographs with him and shake his hand.

That opening night of the festival was a blast. We heard the organizers promised the 2009 event to be among the most thrilling that Brisbane ever staged. Brisbane Festival coincided with the commemoration of the city’s and the state’s sesquicentenary or 150th foundation year. Most of the events in the Riverfire festival staged on the succeeding nights (until October 3) were also exciting, albeit at different levels.