First Look at Horizon 2026
We’ve been busy, charting the course toward the Horizon.
This year, the view is looking extraordinary — so we thought we’d share a few highlights before we launch the full program.
Get ready for a huge dance hall, explorations of rave culture, a music takeover in Maroochydore, a signature event connecting flora, fauna and Country...and countless ways for you to get involved.
The full program drops 26 February!
Yauar Warai Wandi – Sing, Dance, Gather
Yauar Warai Wandi celebrates the living relationships between flora, fauna and Country. This vibrant gathering honours the connections across Gubbi Gubbi, Jinibara, Quandamooka and Butchulla Country through contemporary and traditional performance, music, ceremony and sculpture.
Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave
An electrifying non-stop performance of pure chaos and carnage. Exploring rave culture, witness the destruction of 3 humans. Experience a 3-day rave condensed into an hour with this spectacle of pure endurance.
Jem Cassar-Daley
Queensland Music Award-winner Jem Cassar-Daley’s indiepop sensibilities to the Sunshine Coast this May, closing out the Festival's season of uniquely Australian sound at Solbar.
Sunshine Coast Hinterland Writers Festival
Attracting authors from around Australia, this festival combines the magic of storytelling with the natural beauty of the hinterland. Through an exciting line up of workshops, panel discussions and book launches, everyone from budding writers to avid readers are welcome.
Horizon Dance Hall
It's the finale of Horizon Festival 2026! Send it with an all-in dance-a-thon! Bootscoot all day with line dancing, Bollywood, hip-hop, samba, swing, bush dance and DJs. A free, all-ages celebration with food, clothing markets and more.
GET INVOLVED
Radical Hope Machine 2 Workshops
The Radical Hope Machine 2 has landed, and you’re invited to help imagine what comes next.
Radical Hope Machine 2 imagines a parallel world where the Radical Hope Machine has crash landed with Earth, fusing future tech with everyday objects to create bold visions for the future.
Explore a place where everyone has a chance to tell their story, and magical clothing speaks to its wearer, weaving memory and ideas into an exhibition trail co-created by the Sunshine Coast community. A merging of short story, fashion and audio technology, wander through an immersive landscape in the brand-new Library+ in Caloundra to uncover local stories in the nooks and crannies between bookshelves. We’re looking for bold, beautiful, everyday moments of cultural life on the Sunshine Coast through the lens of a local.
Open Call: Common People Dance Workshop
Ever wanted to learn a big, fun, group dance routine and perform it on a stage in a costume? The Common People Dance Workshop invites audiences to learn an energetic routine and then take to the stage as part of the Dance Hall event at Horizon Festival. This experience welcomes people of all ages and all abilities.
Picture Culture: Here & Now
If you’re part of a migrant or diaspora community, a First Nations storyteller, or someone whose home is rooted in both the afar and the here, this is for you.
Picture Culture: Here & Now is part of Horizon 2026 and invites locals to capture the Sunshine Coast — alive with stories, traditions, and identities that stretch beyond the expected. This is your chance to show what everyday cultural life looks like, from quiet rituals to joyful celebrations, and the ways people shape this region.