This year, we’re launching the festival with a good ol’ fashioned, all-are-welcome, street party on Ocean Street!

There will be live music, performance, food, bars, more bars, art everywhere, a big stage, a blocked road, and activities suitable for the whole family. But, why Ocean Street? Well, Ocean Street will become our Festival Precinct for the 10 days and nights of the festival – a fully activated street with a taste of all the program has to offer for you to enjoy and get lost exploring.

So, arrive early on the opening night. Don’t be late. Bring your friends, family, and lovers and experience a night full of program highlights, cold drinks, tasty food, and vast exploration throughout the depths of Maroochydore – from Solbar to Big Top Shopping Centre and beyond.

One night only, folks – don’t miss out.

Opening Night Program

Hosted by Nicky Wilkinson.

Ocean Street Stage

• 5-5.10pm | Light Line – Aunty Helena Gulash and Deline Briscoe  
• 5.30-6.15pm | Demi Casha
• 6.30-7.15pm | Infusion
• 7.30-8:30pm | Chucho Bruno & Karaka Orchestra

Ocean Street

• Driveway – Kellie O’Dempsey & Mick Dick
• The VOiiiDians
• Mother Controller - The Ironing Maidens
• Light Line – Kabi Kabi Country  
• Jarjum Life Museum  

Big Top Shopping Centre

• Confashional  
• Pigeon Fool
• Stasis - curated by Experimenta 
• New work by Vernon Ah Kee - curated by Experimenta
• Shadowgram - curated by Experimenta 

Duporth Avenue

• Tokyo Rain  
• The Daily Muse  

Old Soul Lounge

• VOiiiDCollective & DJ

Solbar – Lounge

• Solbar Lounge - Tunes and Chats

Solbar

• BARKAA

Nicky Wilkinson

Nicky Wilkinson is a Comedian, Actor and Producer from the UK. She began performing stand-up comedy in 2013, in the same year she reached the finals of prestigious British comedy competitions ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ and ‘New Act of the Year’. She’s instantly likeable, with a warm, witty charm and impressive stage presence, which makes her an excellent host and master of ceremonies. 

In addition to her solo work, Nicky is one half of multi award-winning comedy duo, The Kagools, who brought silent comedy into the 21st Century with their uniquely joyful shows. 

Nicky moved to Australia at the end of 2019 and now performs at theatres, comedy clubs and festivals all over the county and is also an accomplished Producer, she co-founded Funny Coast Comedy in 2020, a comedy production and events company based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Deline Briscoe (Yalanji)

Deline Briscoe, a Yalanji woman of song from Far North Queensland’s Daintree Region, has a two-decade career collaborating with artists like Archie Roach, Paul Kelly, and Emma Donovan, and touring globally with Black Arm Band and Mission Songs Project. As an Artistic Director, she leads works like Blaktivism, Singing Up Country, and A Heartfelt Tribute to Uncle Archie Roach. She shares her artistry to uplift and keep culture alive through song and storytelling.

Aunty Helena Gulash (Kabi Kabi)

Helena Gulash, a Kabi Kabi traditional owner and Elder, has over 35 years' dedication to Indigenous arts, culture, and heritage. Renowned for her knowledge of Country and Buderim’s living history, she contributes to events like Singing Up Country and Kabi Kabi Connections. Her work preserves and celebrates Kabi Kabi stories, traditions, and artistic expression.

Demi Cash

Demi Casha, a songstress from the Sunshine Coast, QLD, captivates with her unique blend of gum tree rock, indie, and folk sounds. Likened to luminaries like Grace Slick, her raw energy and emotive storytelling shine in performances at prestigious venues and festivals. Experience her authentic connection through heartfelt melodies. 

Karaka Orchestra 

Step into a world where rhythm becomes a force of nature. Karaka Orchestra is a visceral, immersive experience – an explosion of movement, sound, and pure improvisation. Each performance is a fleeting moment of collective energy, an untamed dialogue between the stage and the audience. Expect tension and release, chaos and harmony, a pulse that builds, shifts, and erupts. This is music in its rawest form-alive, unpredictable, and ready to shake you to the core.

Jarjum Life Museum

Jarjum Life Museum is a collection of contemporary, original artworks created and curated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (jarjum) living on Kabi Kabi Country.  

Intertwining exploration, visual arts, storytelling, photography, soundscapes and culture, Jarjum Life Museum documents the life of the jarjum – their here and now, and what life is like growing up today.

Mother Controller – Ironing Maidens

Mother Controller is a participatory activation, projection sculpture using mapped video footage, animated elements and domestic objects.

Eddie Ray – Silence of the Jams Legend 

His music is funky and his shows are funny. Award winning artist Eddie Ray has been called the next Yahoo Serious, with a brand of comedy that’s been missing since ‘Hey Hey it’s Saturday’ was on TV. He doesn’t own a smartphone, he doesn’t have a TikTok and has never shared a cat video. This one-man machine is fighting the smartphone apocalypse one song at a time. Eddie does all his own stunts, writes and records his own music from his home studio (where he plays every instrument) and makes his own films.

Driveway – Kellie O’Dempsey & Mick Dick 

Kellie O’Dempsey and Mick Dick crank up the volume on sound and vision, fusing live digital drawing, bass-heavy dub, and immersive projections into electrifying, sensorial experiences. KellieO’s fluid, gestural visuals pulse and shift in real-time, syncing with Mick’s deep bass, echo, delay into spatial distortion. Their work is a deep-groove collision of movement, light, and sound – part psychedelic chill space x dreamscape, all improvised. Layers build, dissolve, and transform, creating hypnotic environments that blur the lines between performer and audience, seen and heard. Driveway is Playful, random, and immersive, their collaboration will turn this space into a living, breathing, vibrating collage.

The VOiiiDians 

Meet The VOiiiDians – a motley crew of quirky, roving characters in recycled wearables, ready to bring joy, chaos, and a dash of magic to all ages! This exceptionally eccentric family of outrageously quirky characters lives for any chance to dance, prance, and play.

Sunshine Brass – Marching Band

Sunshine Brass are a 30 piece brass band based in Nambour (est. 1906) with members aged from 12 to 88 years old. 

The Daily Muse – Alison Mooney

Alison Mooney is an Australian artist based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, exploring colour, movement, and curiosity. Her studio pieces, murals, and public art use bold colours and dynamic forms to energize spaces. The Daily Muse is a daily public art project, within the Festival Precinct, where each piece (an unavoidable good news mural) is created in response to current events in mainstream media’s daily news.

The Opening Night Street Party officially launches the Festival Precinct, where we invite you to wander and wonder through our Urban Gallery every day of Horizon 2025.

Situated in Ocean St, Maroochydore (Kabi Kabi Country), you’ll find a diverse collection of works nestled into streets, laneways and Big Top Shopping Centre – blurring the lines between physical, artistic and digital realms.

Suitable for all ages, this free-to-enjoy 10-day art-trail will feature inspiring work from visionary Queensland, Australian, and international artists, including First Nations artists.

Opening Night Street Party is free to attend, registrations are appreciated.
Get tickets for BARKAA.

Acknowledgements

Opening Night Street Party is presented by Horizon 2025 as part of the Festival Precinct Urban Gallery, supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Solbar and Big Top Shopping Centre.