BLEACH* Festival 2026 runs for 11 days and nights, from 1 to 11 October, based at HOTA about a 12-minute drive from Opus Broadbeach. This is the Gold Coast’s home-grown arts festival, and this year it shifts to October for the first time. Here are our picks for the program, the logistics from our front door, and how to time a stay around it.
When is BLEACH* Festival 2026 and how do tickets work?
The festival runs Thursday 1 to Sunday 11 October 2026, based at HOTA on Bundall Road, with events spilling out to the Surfers Paradise Foreshore and other sites across the city. Under new artistic director Felix Preval, 2026 is the first edition to run in spring rather than winter. BLEACH* has been the Gold Coast’s flagship arts festival for well over a decade, and returning guests will notice the October move brings warmer nights and longer evenings for the outdoor works than the old winter dates did.
Some events are free and others are ticketed, and the full program with session times is released in stages, so the single most useful thing you can do is check hota.com.au before you plan your days. Ticketed shows for the headline acts sell fastest, especially on the two weekends. Buy through the HOTA box office rather than resellers, and lock in the big-name sessions first, then fill the gaps with the free outdoor works. Because the festival spreads across 11 days, you do not need to cram everything into one night.
What are the program picks worth building a night around?
The first release already gives you plenty to plan around. The festival opens with THAW by Legs on the Wall, a monumental outdoor performance staged at dawn on the Surfers Paradise Foreshore on Thursday 1 October, with a second presentation over the HOTA lake on Saturday 3 October. Both are free, and the dawn opening is the one guests will talk about afterwards. The headline music act is New Zealand’s SIX60, returning to the Gold Coast for a live show. On the dance side, the internationally acclaimed Gravity and Other Myths ensemble stages a 24-hour marathon on the HOTA lake, alongside work from Lucy Guerin Inc, immersive installations and rooftop soirees. Treat the free outdoor pieces as your anchors and book one or two ticketed shows around them.
How do you get to BLEACH* from Opus Broadbeach?
HOTA sits across the Nerang River at 135 Bundall Road, about a 12-minute drive from our Chelsea Avenue door, with car parking on site. The Surfers Paradise Foreshore, where the festival opens, is roughly a 10-minute drive or a short tram trip from the Broadbeach South G:link tram stop.
For evening shows, rideshare is the sensible move so nobody has to skip the bar or watch the clock in a car park. If you drive to HOTA, arrive early on the big weekend nights, since the on-site parking fills as show times approach. For the dawn opening on 1 October, leave Broadbeach with time to spare and consider the tram to Surfers Paradise then a short walk to the foreshore, which sidesteps the early-morning parking scramble. Keep a light jacket handy, because spring mornings by the water start cool before the sun climbs.
Where should you eat around the festival?
You have two easy options: eat at HOTA, or eat well in Broadbeach before you head over. HOTA has its own dining, including Palette Restaurant and The Exhibitionist Bar, which suits a pre-show meal or a drink between works without leaving the precinct. If you would rather eat close to home first, the Oracle Boulevard precinct and the share plates at Social Eating House and Bar are a short walk from Opus, so you can have dinner in Broadbeach and still make an evening session at HOTA. For the free dawn opening, pack a coffee and a pastry from Elk Espresso on Chelsea Avenue, open from 5:45am, and eat properly afterwards back in Broadbeach. Either way, book your festival-night table ahead, because the Broadbeach dining strip runs busy across both October weekends.
FAQs about BLEACH* Festival 2026
When is BLEACH* Festival 2026?
BLEACH* Festival 2026 runs for 11 days and nights, from Thursday 1 to Sunday 11 October, based at HOTA on Bundall Road. For the first time the festival has moved to October to catch the Gold Coast’s spring energy. Check hota.com.au for the full program and session times before you book.
How do you get to BLEACH* from Opus Broadbeach?
HOTA is about a 12-minute drive from our Chelsea Avenue door, with parking on site. The opening event is on the Surfers Paradise Foreshore, roughly a 10-minute drive or a tram ride from Broadbeach South. Rideshare is the easy call for evening shows so you can enjoy the bars.
Are there free events at BLEACH* Festival?
Yes. The festival opens with a free outdoor performance, THAW by Legs on the Wall, staged at dawn on the Surfers Paradise Foreshore on Thursday 1 October, with a second showing over the HOTA lake on Saturday 3 October. More free and ticketed events are released closer to the dates on hota.com.au.
Should you book accommodation early for BLEACH* Festival?
Yes. October is spring on the Gold Coast and the festival draws big crowds across 11 days, so weekends around 3 and 10 October fill first. Booking a Broadbeach apartment early keeps you close to the tram, the dining and an easy run to HOTA for evening shows.
BLEACH* rewards guests who base themselves in the middle of it all and dip in and out over several days. From Opus you are a short tram or drive from HOTA and the foreshore, with dinner and the beach waiting back at home between shows. Browse our Broadbeach apartments for the festival dates, and see what else is on while you are here on our Broadbeach events page.
Image credit: Destination Gold Coast