about horizon festival

Horizon Festival is the Sunshine Coast’s premier multi-arts festival.

Our 10-day offering takes place all over the Sunshine Coast — beaches, the hinterland, warehouses. The lot.

At our core: we celebrate place — it’s the heartbeat of the festival — and our programming reflects this.  But, more importantly, we honour the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which we stand — the Kabi Kabi Peoples and Jinibara Peoples.

Our events vary. And they’re (almost) always in spectacular locations. There’s music, art, theatre, dance, workshops, ceremony, and plenty for the family.  

See you on the horizon, soon.

The Horizon Festival Team

It is our great pleasure to bring you Horizon Festival 2023.

As the custodians of Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) and Jinibara Country, our role within the festival is twofold: to strengthen the ecology of Kabi Kabi and Jinibara arts and cultural practices, and to position Horizon Festival as a place where you can experience beautiful First Nations work from both local and national First Nations artists, that is deeply connected to Country and community.

First Nations programming beats throughout the heart of the Horizon Festival program in 2023; including our four Traditional Owner Projects.

Please join us, as we move closer towards a future where Kabi Kabi and Jinibara arts and culture are strengthened, reinstated and centred.

Horizon Festival First Nations Advisory Group
Aunty Helena Gulash, Lyndon Davis and Jason Murphy (on behalf of Jinibara)

First presented by the Sunshine Coast Council in 2016, Horizon Festival is an annual arts and cultural program that celebrates place, encourages community participation, provides presentation and capacity building opportunities for our local arts sector, and generates economic benefit for the region. The festival is a key action in the Sunshine Coast Arts Plan 2018 – 2038.

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Get involved

There are plenty of ways that you can get involved with the festival.

  • Buy tickets – treat yourself, your friends and family with tickets to one or more of our festival events. Subscriber pre-sale tickets go on sale Thursday 15 June, with general public tickets on sale Monday 26 June 2023.
  • Volunteer – we are always on the lookout for enthusiastic volunteers to assist during the lead up to and during the festival. Volunteer positions are available across a number of areas of the festival including: Box Office and front of house, logistics, festival support, visitor services, stage management and back of house operations.
  • Share the love – let your friends and network know about the festival, post pics and tag us.
  • Corporate support and packages – we offer a range of tailored corporate sponsorship and event packaging opportunities for local businesses who wish to treat their clients, staff and customers. Get in touch with us via email – horizon@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.