Fraser Coast Scene - September

SEPTEMBER 2026 A GUIDE TO THEATRE • ARTS • HERITAGE • CULTURE

WHAT’S ON | SEPTEMBER 2026 5 Walker Street, Maryborough 4122 6060 Box Office Open Monday to Friday: 8.30am – 4pm

David Scheel – Morning Melodies

3 Sep | 11.00AM Experience a morning of brilliant piano and riotous comedy. In David's concerts classical music is turned on its head.

Fraser Coast Ability Awards

18 Sep | 10.30AM Celebrating the achievements of people with disability and recognising those helping to build a more inclusive Fraser Coast community.

Aldridge Music Night 2026

8 Sep | 6.15PM Extension music students from Aldridge State High School join Australian recording artists for a tribute concert celebrating hit songs from the 1970s to today.

Creedence Clearwater Collective.

19 Sep | 7.30PM We invite you to join us for a night celebrating the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty, as we present the music of one of the world’s most iconic bands.

Brolga Backstage Tours: Presented by Friends of the Brolga

9 Sep | 10AM Take a peek behind the curtain on a backstage tour, followed by morning tea!

Bookings essential.

The Box Show by Junkyard Beats

23 Sep | 10.00AM & 1.00PM Four quirky misfits turn everyday junk – wheelie bins, kitchen scraps and plastic bags into an electrifying symphony of beats, rhythm and creativity.

COVER IMAGE: A three-part cast bronze sculpture by local artist Trevor Spohr, currently on display in Fraser Coast Regional Council's new Community Hub as part of Council's Civic Collection.

MRAC Cinema Club presents The President's Cake

The Understudy

9 Sep | 6.30PM Set in 1990's rural Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein, this film follows the fortunes of a 9 year-old orphan schoolgirl, Lamia.

13 Sep | 1.00PM The Understudy is a deep dive into the part of Australian touring life audiences never got to see – the musician who held the whole show together when the spotlight wasn’t on him.

Burn The Floor – Luminous

Vika & Linda "Where Do You Come From?"

29 Sep | 7.00PM This renowned production is credited world–wide for reinventing Ballroom and Latin dance styles. Featuring champion dancers, it is not just a dance show.

1 Oct | 7.30PM Two of Australia’s most celebrated and enduring voices. Audiences will be treated to songs from the new album together with the songs and stories of their career.

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Masters of Pop

13 Sep | 5.00PM The “Masters of Pop” brings Australia’s 70's pop era back to life with an all–star band of the original hit makers that made the hits – the ones you saw on Countdown.

Australian Variety Show 4 Oct | 2.00PM City Hall

Gregory North returns to Maryborough for a special afternoon of Australian poetry, storytelling and song, joined by award–winning singer– songwriter Matt Scullion.

www.ourfrasercoast.com.au

166 Old Maryborough Rd, Hervey Bay 4197 4206 Open Tuesday to Friday: 10am - 4pm Weekends: 10am - 2pm. FREE ENTRY

Exhibiting until 15 November

Matters of Time: Contemporary Metal Practices

Regional Spotlight

Brings together Australian artists and designers who explore the evolving role of metal in contemporary practice and its relationship with time.

The Regional Spotlight initiative is an opportunity for Wide-Bay Burnett artists to exhibit at HBRG. Through textiles, sculpture, drawing, painting and photography, artists in this year’s exhibition push the limits.

Exhibiting until 4 October

Exhibiting until 2027

Events and Programs

Film Screening: The Plastic Country

Fri 4 Sep | 5.30PM – 7.30PM

Larissa Dubrowski: Remnants Reimagined Assemblage Workshop Sat 19 Sep | 10AM – 1PM

Auroura Pearce: Fullmoon Slow-Stitch and Patch Workshop Fri 25 Sep | 5.30 – 7.30PM

Joie Boulter: DIY Clay Jewellery Workshop Sammy Hawker | Sound-Forms: Whale Song Combines art and science into poetic dialogue, reinterpreting whale song recordings of The Oceania Project.

National Interests: Australian Art in the 20th Century Exploring the cultural legacy of Australian Modernism in the 20th century.

Tue 29 Sep | 10.30AM – 12.30PM

Images (from top left): Vedika Rampal, ‘Forms of a Fermenting Fantasy’, 2023; Darren Harrold, ‘The Next Town Over no.

1’, 2025; Sammy Hawker, ‘Cymatic Figure from Humpback Whale Song (Maia #4)’, 2025.

WHAT’S ON | SEPTEMBER 2026 311 Kent St, Maryborough 4190 5818 Open Tuesday to Friday: 9.30am - 3.30pm Weekends: 9.30am - 2pm. FREE ENTRY

Artspace Exhibition 12 September – 31 October

Studio Showcases

Twenty26: St Mary’s College

12 Sep – 31 Oct Opening event Fri 9 Oct | 6PM Celebrating and showcasing the creative works of St Mary’s College students from Years 7 to 12.

Artist in Residence

Peter Olds: A Retrospective

12 Sep – 10 Oct Celebrating the life and legacy of the late Peter Olds.

Creative Generations 26 Sep – 24 Oct Opening event Sat 10 Oct | 11AM Celebrating excellence in senior visual art across Queensland.

Workshops & Activities

Mark Dober: Artist in Conversation Mark Dober

9 Sep– 23 Sep Mark Dober will undertake an Artist in Residence to develop new work, while also presenting a series of watercolour workshops. Based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Mark creates en plein air, painting in gouache and watercolour within the very locations he captures.

Images (clockwise from top left): Brock Ford Yr 11 Sunrise Beach; Robert Olds, ‘Nanette’, the first model loco built by WM Olds 1929; Mark Dober, en plein air workshop.

Fri 11 Sep | 5.30PM

Watercolour workshop

Sat 12 & Thur 17 Sep | 10AM

School Holidays:

Clay Creations

Tue 29 Sep | 10am

Basket Weaving Sun 4 Oct | 10AM

Kent & Richmond Sts, Maryborough 4123 7221 Open Tuesday to Friday 9.30am - 3.30pm Weekends 9.30am - 2pm. Entry fee applies

Sensory Friendly Sessions Tuesdays 9.30AM - 11.30AM

Maryborough Story Trail exhibition Included in admission Celebrating the creative process behind the Maryborough Story Trail.

Daily Craft Activities

Included in admission Join us for an evolving selection of arts and craft to keep minds actively creating.

in the birthplace of her author PL Travers Explore the heritage listed former bank as you interact with displays featuring the life of P.L. Travers and her enchanting stories of the practically perfect nanny. Featuring two levels of interactive displays, pocket park and retail shop.

Fraser Coast Scene is distributed free as a marketing and engagement initiative of Fraser Coast Regional Council.

It’s about promoting Council’s programs and services by sharing stories of our arts and cultural community and their connection to Council’s spaces.

STAY INSPIRED! This guide shares a taste of Council’s arts, culture and heritage program and was correct at time of printing. To keep up to date with the latest information visit our website.

We welcome contributions from our creative community. For more information email ArtsCulture@frasercoast.qld.gov.au

Wharf Street, Maryborough 4190 5722 Open Tuesday to Friday 9.30am - 3.30pm Weekends 9.30am - 2pm. FREE ENTRY

Tastings and Treasures

By Appointment Enjoy a selection of premium liqueurs as our storyteller shares tales inspired by objects from our collection.

Tastes of the Region Looking for unique gift ideas?

Drop in and see the team at the Bond Store.

Explore the Bond Store and let this beautiful, heritage-listed building share its stories as you wander through the space.

Add to your experience with tantalizing tales and fantastic flavours. Enjoy a selection of premium quality ports and liqueurs as our storytellers share tales inspired by objects from our collection.

Take home a taste of the region with delicious delicacies or curious keepsakes.

Fraser Coast Regional Council acknowledges to the east, the Butchulla (Badtjala) and to the west, the Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) People, their connection to Country (land, sea and sky) and recognise the many places of cultural, spiritual, social and economic significance in the community. We pay respects to their Elders – past, present and emerging. We also acknowledge other First Nation Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islander people, who reside in the Fraser Coast region.

www.ourfrasercoast.com.au

Story: Lizzie Macaulay | Photo: Cody Fox

Lesley Reid does not see costume design, acting and visual art as separate craft s. To her they are “rooms in the same house, which all flow into each other, to inform and inspire.” Ask which room feels most like home and she points to whichever is messiest at the time. “All creative processes go through a period of total mayhem and then... voilà!”

This October she takes on the most allencompassing room of all, making her directorial debut with Blithe Spirit, Noël Coward’s supernatural comedy, at Z-PAC Theatre in Hervey Bay. “Directing is about everything, all together, all at once,” she says.

Reid has been making theatre on the Fraser Coast since she moved here in 2000, working across costume, stage and visual art, and throwing herself into community projects including the Main Street murals and the Woodford Folk Festival. Costume design especially draws on her curiosity, borrowing tools from other industries like

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builders’ spray foam and 3D printing to help an actor “feel comfortable, safe” and bring a character to life.

Directing was not something she sought.

The idea came from experienced director Marjolijn Dudgeon, now her assistant director, and Reid first said no. “I firmly rejected [it] on the basis that I had no idea how to go about something like that,” she recalls. It was finding the right play that spurred her on, along with a very practical thought. Directing would be “probably easier to direct a bunch of adults than run a classroom.”

Coward drew her in with wit that has lasted.

“The play’s appeal to me is that it’s about relationships, love and death,” she says Blithe Spirit runs at Z-PAC Theatre, Hervey Bay, from 2 to 18 October 2026.

Read the full profile online >