Q150 Queensland celebrates 150 years

Proclamation Day, Thursday 10 December 2009, will mark 150 years since the historic reading in Brisbane of the Letters Patent. The Letters Patent was signed by Queen Victoria on 6 June 1859, proclaiming Queensland a separate colony to New South Wales.
Queensland's first Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, accompanied by his wife Lady Diamantina Bowen, witnessed the reading of the Letters Patent from the balcony of Adelaide House, now the Deanery of St John's Cathedral in Ann Street, Brisbane.
Proclamation Day will culminate the year of celebrations across the State and recognise the contribution and support of all Queenslanders towards the Q150 celebrations.
Get the schedule for the Q150 Proclamation Day concert.

Proclamation Day celebration program - Thursday 10 December

Brisbane Christmas Tree goes Solar

Brisbane will have the world's largest solar-powered Christmas tree when 16,000 bulbs switch on for the first time in King George Square on November 27, after a concert by Katie Noonan, Brisbane-based actor Bille Brown, the Flipside Circus troupe and a massed choir.
Today I saw the 21-metre tree's giant star being installed at the top of what will be the tree.

Oktoberfest in Brisbane

The band is warming up, the beer is brewing and the pretzels are baking – preparations are well underway for the 2009 Oktoberfest Brisbane!
Held over two weekends in October, 9-11 & 16-18 October 2009, this traditional event continues to gain great momentum as a yearly cultural and entertaining celebration for families, corporate guests, students and young professionals alike.
Ticket prices range from $10 on the Friday nights to $50 for a 6-day event pass. Please visit www.oktoberfestbrisbane.com.au for more details.

New Bridge in Brisbane - Kurilpa

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh yesterday officially opened the new $63.3 million Kurilpa Bridge in Brisbane's CBD.
More than 1050 people were employed on the project and it is anticipated that around 36,500 people will use Kurilpa Bridge each week. Named after the Indigenous term for "West End", Kurilpa Bridge is the world's largest pedestrian and cycle bridge of its kind, balancing tension and compression components to produce a light but robust structure. The structure is 470 metres long, 6.5 metres wide and has a deck thickness of 25 cm.
One of the other unique features of the bridge is how it is lit and powered. The bridge employs a sophisticated LED lighting scheme that can be programmed to produce an array of different lighting effects, which will become a feature of Brisbane's annual Riverfire celebrations.
The 84 solar panels used on the bridge will have an average daily output of 100kWh and an average yearly output of 38MWh.
Public Works Minister Robert Schwarten said the bridge's grid connect solar power system will see savings of around 37.8 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.