‘More of everything’ as dates revealed for unique festival

Get your calendars out and highlight these dates if you want to immerse yourself in a Sunshine Coast event like no other.

Organisers have confirmed that the 2023 Horizon Festival, a 10-day showcase of culture, music, visual art, theatre, dance, comedy and creative workshops, will return in 2023 from August 25 to September 3.

Sunshine Coast Council’s Horizon Festival Director Hannah Clissold said audiences and participants could expect more of everything at this year’s festival.

“We are excited to again have a strong arts and cultural line up, showcasing an impressive array of local artists alongside some nationally recognised and, for the first time since the 2019 Festival, one internationally recognised act,” Ms Clissold said.

“First Nations art and artists will be at the forefront of our programming with incredible cultural experiences woven through the festival.

2022Dawn Awakening_Horizon Festival. Image: Nic Morley

“Homegrown, which is presented in partnership with The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), will return for its fourth year, providing a platform for three talented local artists to present projects across the festival period.

“And excitingly, last year’s well received festival hub at Cotton Tree with the spectacular Wonderland Spiegeltent, is returning this year.

“We’ve taken on board all the feedback and learnings from 2022 and in this year’s program we want to bring the community together, offer more free art experiences, more food and family entertainment – just more excitement, made accessible for everyone across the region to enjoy.”

Sunshine Coast Council Arts Portfolio Councillor Rick Baberowski said the festival lifts our gaze and hastens our hearts; it's evolved to become a real highlight in our region’s calendar of events.

“The Sunshine Coast arts and cultural ecology is also steadily growing confident and excitingly ambitious, and the Horizon Festival is a wonderful way to showcase that,” Cr Baberowski said.

“In 2022, more than 500 artists presented 161 events across 25 locations attracting more than 21,000 attendances.

“During the 10-day festival, those attendees injected more than $1.7 million into the Sunshine Coast economy.

“With the dates now announced, I encourage all businesses – arts based, hospitality or tourist-focused to lean solidly into the festival, mark the date in your diary and as much as possible, leverage all the social and economic benefits that this festival provides.”

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