Gold Coast artists share the stage as BLEACH* wraps its first spring run
BLEACH* Festival wrapped up on 11 October after 11 days and more than 50 events across HOTA and the Surfers Paradise Foreshore, in its first year as a spring festival.
The free Live Music Stage at the HOTA Lake Precinct gave local artists a place in the program, with Gold Coast acts including Blind Corners, Ella Fence, Sunny Luwe, Laurel Hill, DJ VICES and DJ Pia Pressure on the bill. Blind Corners, winners of the 2025 Gold Coast Music Prize, played on 8 October after a big few months that included their BIGSOUND showcase and the release of debut album Sink or Swim.
On the HOTA Outdoor Stage, a free double bill of Lady Blackbird and Electric Fields opened the concert series on 2 October, followed by Six60 and Sub-Tribe the next night. The festival opened at dawn on 1 October with Legs on the Wall’s THAW, an eight-hour performance on a suspended block of ice, and closed with The Farm’s dance-theatre work No One Gets Out Of Here Alive. In between, more than 500 community participants helped shape the BEACON installation in the HOTA parklands.
Artistic Director Felix Preval said the move to spring opened up new creative possibilities for the festival and its audiences. The program was supported by the $1.5 million EGC Arts Fund and the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.
The GCMA looks forward to supporting BLEACH*2027