Uplifting and accessible: Horizon festival reveals 2022 program of homegrown hits and world-class wonder

The much-anticipated Sunshine Coast festival of arts and culture Horizon, unveiled its 2022 program on the sandy banks of the Maroochy River last night (June 16).

Supporting a stellar line-up, Horizon Festival is back – live and up close and personal from Friday, August 26 to Sunday, September 4

Impacted by Covid in 2020 and 2021, this year the Festival boasts an impressive line-up of local acts and nationally recognised artists who will perform in one of Australia’s most stunning destinations.

The 10 days and nights include music, visual art, performance, dance, family entertainment, spoken word, comedy and workshops.

Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Mark Jamieson said he was delighted to welcome Horizon Festival 2022 in its much-loved live format, after the past two years of hybrid versions of the event.

“Horizon is an exciting celebration of the arts and a great example of Sunshine Coast Council and our community working together to create a festival that pushes boundaries and surprises and delights all in attendance,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“Our region’s arts and cultural sector is thriving and the Festival’s incredible program is a testament to the world-class talent and creativity that is developed and nurtured on the Sunshine Coast.”

Horizon Festival Director Hannah Clissold said the themes of People, Arts, Culture and Place were at the heart of this year’s program.

“It has been a strange two years and we are delighted to unveil a program that invites everyone to come together, in person, and experience the beauty, wonder and talent that abounds on the Sunshine Coast,” Ms Clissold said.

“This year is about reconnection; about revisiting the region and experiencing it anew, discovering – or rediscovering – a favourite artist or event and reinvigorating the Sunshine Coast’s vibrant arts and cultural scene.

“Horizon Festival is committed to investing in local artists and presenting an inclusive and accessible program that welcomes visitors of all ages as well as centring Kabi Kabi and Jinibara artists at the heart of the festival.”

The Wonderland Spiegeltent sits centre stage at the Festival’s Cotton Tree Park hub and features 10 days and nights of programming, from family shows to late-night cabarets and concerts with acts including Kate Ceberano, Steven Oliver and Justine Clarke.

Every morning, the Wonderland Spiegeltent will be commandeered by kids and their keepers with the space thoughtfully curated for the Coast’s little artists and explorers.

The sun rises and sets on Horizon Festival with two ceremonies paying respect to the land’s First Nations traditional custodians, the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara peoples.

The Opening Ceremony at Cotton Tree Park celebrates the region’s oldest living culture through songs, language, ceremony, art, dance and music.

The program ends with the signature event Dawn Awakening, a multi-arts celebration of remembrance, dreaming and ritual, directed by Lyndon Davis and held at Stumers Creek, Coolum.

Sunshine Coast Council Arts Portfolio Councillor Rick Baberowski said the 2022 program’s visual arts component emphasised the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara people, while incorporating the region’s stunning natural environment and provided a spotlight on the leading work of local artists.

“Our program welcomes renowned national acts to the Sunshine Coast and pays homage to the fantastic musicians and artists who live and perform locally,” Cr Baberowski said.

“We feel incredibly proud to be able to support and grow our local talent pool and help artists develop original work that grabs the attention of locals and visitors.”

Horizon Festival’s music program is a celebration of culture and place with First Nations musicians performing intimate shows in unique locations including Dicky Beach, Eumundi, Maleny and Baroon Pocket Dam.

An entertaining performance program includes the Australian festival premiere of Looks Like A Tourist, a large-scale choreographic work with a cheeky perspective on place and tourism.

The spotlight shines on Cotton Tree Bay and Kings Beach Ocean Pool when they stage The Sinkers, a part-comedy, part-amateur synchronised swimming routine, and on The Old Lock Up at Maroochydore when it transforms into an immersive lab and pharmacy for Medicament For Your Predicament.

For program information and bookings, festival updates and behind the scenes info, visit horizonfestival.com.au and follow @horizonartfest on social media.

Horizon Festival delivers events within Queensland Health’s COVID Safe framework. If a performance is cancelled due to COVID, patrons will be offered a full refund or the opportunity to transfer to a new date.

Horizon Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.

Sunshine Coast Council and Horizon Festival pay our deepest respect to the Traditional Custodians of this Country; the Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) and Jinibara peoples of the vast Sunshine Coast region.

First Nations people are the original storytellers and artists of these lands and we acknowledge the festival is enriched through the cultural contribution of First Nations artists.  

HORIZON FESTIVAL 2022 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

52 unique events, 25 locations and 543 artists, facilitators and community participants.

NEW LOCAL LOOK
Local Coolum-based artist Jack MacRae has been engaged to help Horizon Festival return bigger and brighter than ever before. Jack’s bold, yet minimal, collage art, of iconic Sunshine Coast landscapes, forms the base of this year’s festival look.. Jack is an emerging painter and collage artist. His work is instantly recognisable in style—he deftly creates hand-cut collages using coloured paper as well as abstract colour field landscape paintings.

WONDERLAND SPIEGELTENT
From outdoor garden performances, circus, cabaret, creative workshops and spoken word, to live music, a dedicated creative space for families and delicious local eats, Wonderland Spiegeltent has something to inspire, delight and entertain everyone. Big-name acts include Kate Ceberano, Steven Oliver’s Bigger & Blacker, Le Coup, Common People Dance Project and Circus Wonderland. Plus Join one of Australia’s leading electronic artists DÉ SAINT. and friends in the gardens of the Wonderland Spiegeltent for afternoons and evenings of music.
Friday 26 August to Sunday 4 September

HORIZON KIDS
Kids are well catered for with a free daily program of self-guided arts and crafts at the Wonderland Spiegeltent Garden. Plus you’ll find workshops from the Wildings Forest School and New Dreaming Art, fun and laughter from Holy Bin Amoley!, high energy music with Babushka Kids and the much-loved Justine Clarke.

THE SINKERS
Connect and sync when “the Sunshine Coast’s most underwhelming synchronised swimming club” delivers a bracing dose of refreshing entertainment and humour. Pop your floaties on and participate or watch from the grandstands.
Saturday 27 August – Sunday 28 August

DAWN AWAKENING
The community is invited to gather before dawn at Stumers Creek to witness a beautiful multi-arts celebration of remembrance, dreaming and ritual. Directed by Lyndon Davis, this signature event features local and national First Nations artists.
Sunday 4 September

OPEN AIROpen Air is a celebration of place with concerts performed for an intimate audience and live-streamed for viewers outside the region to enjoy. Artists include Emily Wurramara, Andrea Kirwan, Yirinda, Cloe Terare and a Blak Social event with Aya J and Tia Gostelow.
Various dates

LOOKS LIKE A TOURIST
This new, site-specific, large-scale choreographic work makes its world Festival debut across Horizon’s opening weekend. Bringing together more than 50 community participants in inflatable orange suits, the visual spectacle explores the behaviours and impacts of tourism.
Friday 26 August – Sunday 28 August

HOMEGROWN
Celebrating its third year, Homegrown gives artists the opportunity to work closely with the Festival to develop and present their work. Projects this year include Guyu and Friend Mr Pelican, SAND and Eddie Ray – Silence of the Jams.
Saturday 27 August – Sunday 3 September

SONGS OF GAIA
Experience a world premiere performance, a poignant cross-cultural music performance at the foot of the Glasshouse Mountains that is an ode to Gaia (Mother Earth) at this time of environmental crisis.
Saturday 3 September

KABI KABI CONNECTIONS
This new media work creates visibility for the stories of the Kabi Kabi people and their contemporary representations of Country and is projected from the pier at Cotton Tree and the Wonderland Spiegeltent.
Friday 26 August – Sunday 28 August

LISTEN MORE NOT SPOKEN FOR
Listening walks have been created through the Maroochy Regional Botanic Gardens by a team of children in collaboration with Quandamooka artist Libby Harward, their families and our Mother Earth. A descendant of the Ngugi people of Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) in the Quandamooka, Listen More, Not Spoken For, breaks through the colonial overlay to connect us with the cultural landscape.
Saturday 27 August – Sunday 4 September