Fortitude Valley - Brisbane Destination Guide
Fortitude Valley (or just The Valley as it’s known to the locals) is the cool kid of Brisbane suburbs. It’s located just outside the city and is the epicentre of live music in Queensland and a great nurturing suburb for up and coming designers, artists and musicians. It’s history is diverse, from the early 1900s to the 60s when the suburb was a thriving shopping precinct.
However after suburban shopping centres opened up, people stopped coming to the area and it became known as an area for illegal gambling houses and brothels with a strong police presence.
Now, after a considerable urban renewal plan the area is once again one of Brisbane’s favourite shopping and entertainment precinct.
Shopping
The Valley is one of our favourite shopping strips in Brisbane. You’ll find designer boutiques, street wear stores, charity shops and stores selling modern home wares all sitting next to each other. This area celebrates many local designers and Australian national designers. It’s also a great place to pick up a bargain and find a whole outfit for less than $10. Many of the stores are located on Ann Street, Brunswick Mall and down little arcades dotted all over the place.
Every Saturday and Sunday The Valley hosts markets in the Brunswick Mall. Here you’ll find local and emerging fashion designers selling their wares, jewellery, handmade arts and crafts and brilliant one off art pieces. While you're shopping you can enjoy street theatre and live bands and kick back with all your goodies and watch the passing parade from one of the bars or restaurants.
Emporium is a luxury hotel in Fortitude Valley and is home to over 35 speciality retailers. There’s a variety of high fashion, footwear and lifestyle stores as well as a number of funky bars and restaurants so you can shop and eat in style.
Below is a list of some favourite stores:
Fallow
Level one, Cameron House, 354 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3854 0155
Website: www.fallowbrisbane.blogspot.com
Blonde Venus
707 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3216 1735
Website: www.blondevenus.com.au
The Outpost
5A Winn Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3666 0306
Web: www.blondevenus.com.au
Ultra Suite
Shop 7, 665 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3257 2866
Web: ultrasuite.portableshops.com/contact
Nelson Malloy
717 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3852 5557
Web: www.nelsonmolloy.com.au
Lucid Laundry
367 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3257 3888
Web: www.lucidlaundry.com
Here's a great video put together by the good people at Brisbane Marketing, showing a pretty accurate cross section of what you can expect to see and do in Fortitude Valley.
Restaurants & Bars
The Valley has a range of restaurants including Chinese dumpling houses in Chinatown, cheap pizza and parma’s on Brunswick Street and a whole host restaurants that morph into wine and tapas bars so you can eat and drink the night away. We’ve listed some of our favourite Valley haunts:
Cloudland Bar - Bar & Fine Dining
641 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3872 6600
Web: www.cloudland.tv
Meccah Bah - Restaurant & Bar
19-21/1000 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3252 5299
Web: www.meccabah.net
Barsoma - Bar & Tapas
4/22 Constance Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3252 9550
Web: www.barsoma.com
Fringebar - Restaurant & Bar
Cnr Ann and Constance Streets, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3252 9833
Web: www.fringebar.net.au
The Bowery - Bar
676 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3252 0202
Web: www.thebowery.com.au
Live Music Venues
Brisbane is the home of one of Australia's favourite music acts, Powderfinger and to newer bands like Yves Klein Blue, The Grates and the John Steele Singers. The Valley is a great environment for upcoming artists with a variety of music venues so you can enjoy your favourite local, national and international acts. Brisbanites love to dance so make sure you've got your dancing shoes on!
The Zoo
711 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3854 1381
Web: www.thezoo.com.au
Rics Bar
321 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 3666 0777
Web: www.ricsbar.com.au
Stepinn
186 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 07 3252 2421
Web: www.stepinn.com.au
The Globe Theatre
220 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
Phone: 3175 9999 (venue hire enquiries)
Bookings: 1300 762 545
Web: www.globetheatre.com.au
Fortitude Valley Festivals
As you’ve probably noticed The Valley loves a party so it often lends its streets to a variety of festivals. Live music, food, fun and so much more. Follow the links to see all the festival details.
Valley Fiesta
Valley Fiesta has been running since 1997 and is Brisbane's largest and most loved annual street festival. Each year around 100 000 people turn up to enjoy Brisbane's culinary treats, fashion, arts and live music.
Website: www.valleyfiesta.com
Laneway Festival
St Jerome's Laneway Festival began in a small laneway in Melbourne and has spread out to encompass other areas in Australia's capital cities where live music is key to living. It's a great day for alternative music lovers and it's local Brisbane home is The Zoo.
Website: brisbane.lanewayfestival.com.au
Valley Jazz Festival
The Vally Jazz Festival is a biennial event and returns to streets in May 2011. The festival lasts 5 days and hosts a huge program of events with acts coming from all over the world.
Website: www.valleyjazzfestival.com
Big Gay Day
Big Gay Day is one of Brisbane's summer street parties and attracts a crowd of around 6000 people each year. There's a whole host of live music performances and acts as a fundraising event for several charities.
Website: www.biggayday.com.au
