Festivals, Arts and Community Events
The Easter long weekend also marks the beginning of the Gold Coast’s iconic arts and culture event, Bleach* Festival! There is so much happening with Bleach* from April 18–28 – you can scope out the entire program here or have a look at our top-five picks for some inspo. As for this weekend, you wont want to miss performances like Terror Australis at HOTA, or head down to Bleach* at Burleigh this weekend where you’ll get to see live performances like Tectonic, On This Land We Gather and Ganngalanji (Listen Call-Out Think). The Spiegeltent Gold Coast program also kicks off this week! It starts with a bang on Wednesday night with the first night of award-winning cabaret sensation LIMBO Unhinged (you absolutely need to see this!). The ante is well and truly upped on Thursday night when multi-Platinum selling and five-time ARIA Award-winning singer-songwriter Katie Noonan returns to the coast with her jazz trio, Elixir (featuring Zac Hurren), for a magical evening of music and poetry in The Spiegeltent as part of the Gratitude and Grief national tour. You’ll be able to spend your Good Friday with Matt Okine and his The Hat Game show at The Spiegeltent, then on Saturday night it’s an intimate and unmissable show with the one and only Osher Günsberg. Essentially, LIMBO will run throughout the Spiegeltent season (April 17 to May 12), with a full festival program of world-class music, cabaret, comedy and theatre woven in! You can check out the entire program for The Spiegeltent Gold Coast over here.

Food & Drink
Okay, so in case you’re not paying attention, Bleach* Festival is here and it’s bringing with it a pop-up beach bar, perched right on the sand at Burleigh! That’s right, The Burleigh Bleach* Club is now up and running to the public, so head down there from 2:00–10:00 pm daily (from Wednesday April 17 to Sunday April 28) for some ice-cold beers, tasty eats and some of the best views in town! You can read more about what’s on offer down at the beach bar over here. On Thursday night you can catch the next Gins & Tins event at Miami Marketta – this time it’s Archie Rose Distilling Co. teaming up with Lost Palms Brewing Co for a night of insightful sips! A heads up that Miami Marketta is closed for Good Friday, but will be back open as normal this Saturday. On Friday night, there’s the Easter Long Weekend Retro Cruise Night happening at the Burleigh Town Tavern from 5:00 pm – head on down for a food-truck feast, a few cold ones and plenty rockabilly vibes! The team behind The Scottish Prince (Palm Beach) and The Cambus Wallace (Nobby Beach) are going all out this Easter, slinging all of your rum and whisk(e)y desires, while hosting a variety of tastings and offering a two-night-only Scotch-egg menu across both venues! If you’re looking for some family fun this long weekend, head over to the Broadwater Parklands for an Easter Sunday lunch with a twist at the Food Truck Easter Feast. Enjoy delicious food truck eats, listen to some great live music and spend time with family and friends by the beautiful Broadwater. This week also marks the beginning of The Star Gold Coast’s Seafood Freshtival, a six-week celebration of all-things seafood, with a spectacular series of events, pop-ups, exclusive dining experiences and limited-edition dishes on offer across The Star Gold Coast’s dining venues – you can check out all of the #freshtival happenings over here. BONUS ROUND: friends, it’s an extra-long weekend so it’s public holidays galore – here’s a handy list of what’s open over each of the four days of Easter, for your eating and drinking pleasure.

Live Music, Easter Fun and Markets
As for live music, there’s a little thing called Byron Bay Bluesfest happening this weekend, though if you’re staying local then catch Casey Barnes & KICK Band live at RSL Club Southport on Saturday, or treat your ears to the works of Mister Sister, Flangipanis, Hell & Whiskey and New Wave Order as you dig in to some of the best burgers in town down at Eddie’s Grubhouse in Coolangatta on Easter Sunday. If you’re a Whitney Houston fan (who isn’t?) then you won’t want to miss The Greatest Love of All – The Whitney Houston Show at The Star Gold Coast on Saturday night – last tickets are available here. There will be plenty of action at Oracle Boulevard in Broadbeach this long weekend, with open-air movie screenings happening on Easter Sunday and Monday! Oracle Boulevard will transform into a cinema and show everyone’s favourite Easter films (Peter Rabbit, Christopher Robin and Trolls to name a few), so gather the crew, head in for a feast, settle into a beanbag with a drink in hand and enjoy a moonlit flick! Those down south looking for some Good Friday fun with the brood, Seagulls Club in Tweed Heads has a free family-fun night happening from 4:00 pm, while at Southport Sharks the Easter celebrations are spreading across the entire weekend, with everything from live music to a kids Easter show and visits from the Easter bunny. If you’re heading into Surfers Paradise this weekend, be sure to peep the Australian Street Entertainment Carnival‘s mind-blowing goodness – there will be everything from chainsaw jugglers to fire twirlers and more … you won’t be able to miss it.  Finally, The Village Markets is on this SUNday – hurrah! Once you’ve eaten through your stash of chocolate eggs, head down to Burleigh State School for an unmissable Easter version of TVM!