Creating a seasonal feast for Instagram feeds

Forget Santa’s elves. This holiday season, the real MVPs were Aruga’s content team, creating pixel-perfect, social-first video designed to inspire travellers to experience summer in Brisbane.

As the city came alive with lights, colour and end-of-year energy, our focus was on capturing feeling over polish. Fast, intuitive content built for how people actually scroll, save and share. The kind of video that stops thumbs, sparks curiosity and turns moments into must-dos.

In partnership with our friends at Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA), we delivered unmissable short-form content for The City and Visit Brisbane, BEDA’s official tourism channels, spotlighting Brisbane through a distinctly local, joy-led lens.

The City

Armed with an iPhone and an eye for the extraordinary, we hit the heart of Brisbane City to capture the season at its most magical. From Enchanted Gardens and Tiny Doors to mistletoe moments, tinsel-wrapped wanderings and twinkling light displays, we set out to bottle Christmas in The City.

Topping the account’s nice list was a walk-through of The Enchanted Garden at Roma Street Parkland, clocking up 638,000 views (and counting), 7,100 likes and more than 640 comments, many along the lines of “OMG I need to see this!”

Rounding out the festive hits were a Tiny Doors treasure hunt featuring Mace Robertson’s whimsical creations, attracting 179,000 views, and a hypnotic reel of Brisbane Arcade’s 100,000 lights that stopped 78,000 viewers mid-scroll.

Visit Brisbane

From Moreton Bay to the mountains, our video showcasing what Christmas feels like in Brisbane amassed a whopping 163,000 views, while our not-so-humble brag showing why Brisbane scored a spot on the 50 Best Places to Travel in 2026 list resonated with more than 72,000 viewers.

We briefly debated whether to share our favourite hidden Brisbane gems but, in the spirit of giving, we hit publish, and 20,000 views later, we’re glad we did even if it means bracing for bigger crowds at our local haunts.

Oh well, we guess finding more great Brisbane places and faces to fill your feeds has just become our 2026 New Year’s resolution!

Curious to see more?

Explore more of the social-first video content we’re creating for clients here.