Two teams, one moderator, one hour to prepare their arguments. See some of the Festival’s finest comedians, along with fresh local faces, go head-to-head in The Debate, a good old-fashioned argument with a bit of mudslinging, a fair amount of silliness, and absolutely no prizes for the winning team. Comedians are given the debate topic in advance, but the catch is: they are only assigned to the affirmative or negative team on the night! Previous topics have included “Republic, or Nah” in 2023, “Is the force with us” (on Star Wars Day) in 2022, and “Everything is getting better, mostly” in 2021. Featuring Brisbane favourites Craig Quartermaine and Sophie Bannister as rival team captains, a soon-to-be-announced lineup of festival comedians, and local legend Natalie Bochenski (Act React) as MC. The Debate is an annual fundraising event for the amazing work of New Farm Neighbourhood Centre.