The Sunshine Coast’s premier arts festival – the Horizon Festival – has announced its full program of events, spread across 10 days between August 24 and September 2.
The 52-page program features more than 150 events in visual art, film, literature, performance, comedy, music, theatre and children’s programming, and highlights include:
String Symphony
Cotton Tree | 24-29 Aug
Harmony Development, Palmview | 31 Aug – 2 Sep
A large-scale, interactive performance installation that uses puppetry to explore connection, community and collaboration. Hand-woven using more than one kilometre of rope, the giant illuminated puppet is brought to life by the audience.
Music on Kings – Hot August Night
Kings Beach Amphitheatre | 25 Aug
Get ready for some “beautiful noise” as acclaimed musician Darren Percival, his eight-piece band The Business and a number of young local musicians, including Mason Hope and Genevieve Langford, take to the stage for an exciting Neil Diamond inspired night of 70s music.
Manafest
C-Square, Nambour | 25 Aug
Highly visual and immersive, Manafest showcases the offbeat and vividly entertaining world of pop culture. Enjoy live performances, music and anime film screenings, or sit and enjoy it all with food and drinks at the Japanese-inspired Maid Café. Experience the art of cosplay (costume roleplay) by taking part in the cosplay competition or simply watching as the distinctive costumes hit the runway.
The Bookbinder
The Old Ambulance Station, Nambour | 24-26 Aug
Be enthralled by this story of mystery, magic and mayhem from award-winning NZ company Trick of the Light Theatre. From pop-up book to puppetry, storytelling to live action, the inventive one-man performance tells the story of an old man who sits down to read the tale of an erstwhile bookbinding apprentice, and as he speaks, the story spills from the pages and into the bindery.
The Bunker
Imperial Hotel, Eumundi | 26 Aug – 1 Sep
A celebration of local, national and international stories and poetry through spoken word performance, The Bunker Series features workshops, competition heats and a signature competition event.
Dawn Awakening
Stumers Creek, Coolum | 2 Sep
Dawn Awakening has become the signature finale event of Horizon Festival. An evocative, ceremonial celebration where past, present and future are celebrated through the awakening of a new dawn at Stumers Creek in Coolum – a place of gathering, remembering, dreaming and ritual.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said the countdown was on to another outstanding major event for our region.
“Each year, Horizon provides a great opportunity for our local artists, alongside specially invited national and international guests, to come together and showcase their talents to the community and the many visitors to our region,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“In the first two years, close to 90,000 people attended Horizon events – an amazing illustration of how quickly this festival has been embraced by both locals and those from outside our region.”
Arts Portfolio Councillor Rick Baberowski said the curated program catered to the popular, the emerging and the experimental.
“During Horizon, you can dip your toes in, or really immerse yourself and step outside your comfort zone,” Cr Baberowski said.
“There’s so much variety in the program this year including String Symphony puppetry, The Bookbinder performance and the beautiful Dawn Awakening ceremony.”
The full program and booking arrangements can be viewed at www.horizonfestival.com.au.
Horizon is proudly presented by Sunshine Coast Council and supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Horizon is supported by the Cultural Heritage Levy, Harmony, SunCentral, Tafe Queensland, My Weekly Preview, 92.7 MixFM, SeaFM, ABC Sunshine Coast, eARTh emag, mouthful mag, Coastline BMW, Go Transit, Living Smart, Mantra Hotels and Visit Sunshine Coast. The Queensland Government, via Tourism and Events Queensland’s Destination Events Program, is proud to support the Horizon Festival which features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
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