Brisbane G20 Welcomes the World

On Saturday 15^th and Sunday 16^th of November 2014, the G20 Leaders’ Summit will be held at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre at South Bank. The G20 brings together the heads-of-state of the world’s major 19 economies and the European Union. American  President Barack Obama, Vladmir Putin from Russia and British PM David Cameron  will headline the event in addition to the expected 4,000 delegates and 3,000 media representative set to swarm the River City. Latin countries are represented in the G20 by Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Security around the summit will be extremely tight with 1,500 security specialists and thousands of Queensland Police with extra powers  ensuring safety.

Brisbanites  can join in the celebrations when the Brisbane City Council hosts G20 Cultural Celebrations which start on the 24^th of October and continue until the 16^th of November. There will be a broad range of events on offer including the luminous ColourMeBrisbane light show as well as music and art performances. Residents of the Brisbane local government area also will enjoy a public holiday on Friday the 14^th of November.

There will be some disruptions to public transport and delays in travel times can be expected with the most disruptions being between Friday the 14^th and  Sunday the 15^th of November.  Buses will stick to their normal timetables until 7pm on Thursday  the 13^th but will be restricted on the weekend of the summit. Trains will also be affected with no trains passing through South Brisbane station during the two days when leaders meet. Ferries and CityCats will not have any changes to their normal times. Full details of public transport changes will be updated via translink.com.au.

By Mark Beaton