The Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall has marked 40 years of operation on 20 February 2026, having welcomed more than 19 million people through its doors across 2,875 events since opening night in 1986, and holding a Billboard Magazine ranking as the number one venue in Oceania and ninth in the world for its capacity category.
Four decades after ice skaters Torvill and Dean performed to a sold-out crowd of 10,000 on opening night, the entertainment centre that transformed what was a 64-hectare paddock in Boondall into Brisbane’s most significant indoor entertainment destination reaches its milestone in stronger shape than at any point in its history. The venue has delivered record-breaking years since emerging from the pandemic, and with Linkin Park, Mumford and Sons, Hilltop Hoods, Guy Sebastian and the Harlem Globetrotters all booked across the coming months, 2026 is already shaping as another standout year.
For the communities of Boondall, Nudgee, Zillmere, Carseldine and Albany Creek that have grown up around the venue across four decades, the entertainment centre has been a constant presence, a place where first concerts, family outings, school excursions and unforgettable nights out have accumulated across generations.
From Paddock to Global Top Ten
The 64-hectare Boondall site was first announced in 1983 as part of Brisbane’s Bicentenary Project and a broader push to strengthen the city’s bid for the 1992 Olympic Games. Brisbane architect Jacob de Vries designed the building in a star shape, although builders ultimately constructed only two of the four points. Watkins Pacific, now known as Watpac, completed the venue ahead of schedule at a cost of $71 million. The centre opened on 20 February 1986, with Torvill and Dean performing to a first-night crowd of 10,000, and ten additional shows attracting more than 100,000 people during the opening season alone.
The ticket prices that night were $22.90 for adults and $15.90 for children. Forty years later, the entertainment centre holds a Billboard Magazine ranking as the best venue in Oceania and ninth globally in the 10,001 to 15,000 seat capacity category, a standing that reflects both the quality of its production infrastructure and the strength of Brisbane’s live entertainment market.
Six employees from the original 1986 team still work at the venue today. Queensland Leisure took on management of the entertainment centre just one month before it opened and has remained involved for four decades. The company now operates the venue under the Legends Global banner, formerly known as ASM Global, following a major international merger. Two of the original board members from 1986 remain connected to the operation.
The Acts, the Records, the Moments
The entertainment centre’s 40-year program has spanned international headliners including Prince, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Elton John, Metallica and Madonna alongside homegrown artists including Cold Chisel, Kylie Minogue, Keith Urban, Paul Kelly and Powderfinger, as well as family productions including Les Misérables, Disney on Ice and The Wiggles.
P!NK holds the record as the venue’s most frequent performer with 32 shows, including 11 in a single year in 2009. Metallica drew the largest single crowd in the venue’s history, with 14,454 fans in attendance in 2010. The entertainment centre has handled some of the heaviest touring productions in the industry, including How to Train Your Dragon which weighed 98 tonnes, and has accommodated as many as 35 trucks for a single show. From Leonard Cohen performing at 79 years old to JoJo Siwa taking the stage at 17, the venue has genuinely spanned generations of artists and audiences.
Beyond concerts, the entertainment centre has been woven into Brisbane’s broader civic life in ways no one planned. It also operated as a mass vaccination hub during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and later served as a sandbag depot ahead of Cyclone Alfred in 2025. Producers filmed all three series of the original Australian Gladiators there in 1995, and organisers staged the Lions International Convention at the site. Over the years, the centre has also hosted conferences, gala dinners, religious conventions and trade shows, drawing millions more visitors beyond its ticketed events.
Meanwhile, the Sports Centre at the entertainment centre, which opened in 1997, has hosted approximately seven million people of its own. Boondall Railway Station opened in 1986 specifically to support access to the venue, and the 4,000-space supervised car park remains one of the largest single-venue parking facilities in Brisbane’s north.
A Full Circle Moment and What Comes Next
In one of the more poetic turns of the anniversary year, Torvill and Dean, who opened the entertainment centre on its very first night in 1986, returned to perform multiple shows in 2025, bringing the venue’s first four decades to a close in the company of the artists who began them.
The 40-day anniversary celebration running from 20 February includes a competition offering four groups of ten people the chance to attend an event of their choice across the next year, with entry by sharing a favourite entertainment centre memory on the venue’s Facebook page. Tickets must be used by 1 April 2027, and VIP parking, drinks and snacks are included for each winning group.
Upcoming shows at the entertainment centre include Linkin Park on 3 and 5 March, Hilltop Hoods, MGK, Mumford and Sons, Jimmy Carr, Carl Barron and the Harlem Globetrotters. The full event schedule and competition details are available at brisent.com.au.
Published 1-March-2026.
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