The Sunshine Coast’s Horizon Festival celebrates a perfect ten in 2026: ten memorable years across ten days of bold programming.
Horizon Festival is the Sunshine Coast’s premiere celebration of people, place and possibility. It returns in 2026 with ten days of creativity and unforgettable experiences this May.
Whether it’s a joyous sunset performance on the shoreline. . . The contemplative tranquility of the hinterland. . . Or music spilling out into the streets of Maroochydore, Horizon Festival covers it all and this milestone year is celebrated through a world-class programme of more than 35 unique events across Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Country.
There’ll be First Nations-led gatherings, immersive food experiences, dance and performance, live music, visual art, family adventures and workshops. . . Each crafted to spark wonder, and deepen connection.
“Horizon Festival belongs to the Sunshine Coast. We’ve created a programme where art doesn’t just visit our region, it responds to place, transforms experiences and celebrates community,” Horizon Festival Director Bec Martin says. “Our artistic community is vibrant, courageous and collaborative, and this year’s program brings ambitious new work to life across extraordinary settings. Audiences are invited to gather in unexpected places and to be moved, enchanted and surprised by all that the Sunshine Coast has to offer.”
'The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave' - Image © Mark Gambino
As for programme highlights, the Opening Night will kick off Horizon Festival will a large-scale, all-ages celebration at Kings Beach in Caloundra. . . While ‘YauarWarai Wandi’ will enchant as the sun sets over Coolum Beach, celebrating the relationships between flora, fauna and Country.
Plus, the charismatic Nancy Denis (M’ap Boule) will set the stage ablaze with her journey of embracing her Black, Queer, Haitian and Australian identities.
’The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave’ hits Horizon fresh from a critically acclaimed season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It’s a relentless, high-energy dance work. ‘Burnt Earth: Bonyi Bounty’ offers an unforgettable afternoon of sensory dining and cultural connection, where three local First Nations chefs collaborate to explore a bounty of native ingredients and cooking rituals.
The lovers of music and laughs won’t be short on options – Horizon boasts a rocking line-up of music and comedy at venues across the Sunshine Coast, headlined by the likes of BIG NOTER, The Umbilical Brothers, Danny Widdecombe & The Wand’rin Stars, and Jem Cassar-Daley.
There’s fun for the whole family with Family Film Night too. . . In a celebration of 30 years of the Australian classic, ‘Babe’, with an outdoor screening at Baringa Forest Park. There’ll also be live music from Junior Burger, a farm animal petting zoo, and local food vendors.
For a bit of moving and grooving to close things out, Horizon Dance Hall invites you to pull on your dancing shoes, come together, and celebrate the Festival finale. It’s a free, all-ages, all-day party of music and movement with dance styles from across the world.
Family Film Night - Image © Ben Vos Productions
“Horizon Festival is a unique reflection of the Sunshine Coast. It is a festival for our region, by our region, and its authenticity and commitment to place have also attracted the interest and attendance of visitors from across Australia,” Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli says. “At its heart, Horizon is about community and connection. It invites us to see our landscape differently, to gather in surprising places and to discover how art deepens our understanding of each other, and of this extraordinary region.
“As our region’s key cultural pillar ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, Horizon Festival works to engage and embed the creative sector in the cultural fabric of the Sunshine Coast.”
Horizon Festival (Sunshine Coast) 2026 is on from 1-10 May.
