Food and Drink
Say sayonara to the working week with a brew and a bite at Burleigh Town Tavern for the second (and final) Friday Night Market Gathering or head a little further south for finger lickin’ food and excellent live music at the Bangalow BBQ & Bluegrass Festival, which kicks off on Friday and continues on Saturday. Foodies, dig out your stretchy pants because the (very) eagerly anticipated Cob Loaf Festival is happening at NightQuarter on Saturday. Prepare your tastebuds for plenty of crusty combinations – we’re talking classic cheesy cobs, breakfast cobs, seafood cobs, dessert cobs (oh, baby) and mini cobs for the little tackers, because it’s never too early (or late) to start one’s cob-loaf obsession! Once you finally emerge from your cheese coma, make your way to the Japanese Food Fest at Cocotte Dining in Robina on Sunday. The festival will be set up like a street market and there will be sushi, teppanyaki, karaage, pork-wrapped rice balls and of course plenty of Japanese wine and sake, beers and cocktails to wash it all down. The culinary event is being hosted by Shunichi Tanabe, the chef and owner of Cocotte, who has joined forces with Akira Takagi from MUSO Ramen and Gyoza Bar, Hibiki Ito from Itoshin Japanese Restaurant and Hiroyuki Okubo, the head sommelier from Paper Daisy Restaurant to bring you demonstrations on a range of topics including how to make gyoza, sake appreciation, the art of Japanese barbecue and miso and koji.

Markets, Arts and Community
Thrifty folk and market lovers, you’re spoilt for choice this weekend with The ShOP Bazaar going down on Friday night and the Gold Coast Fashion Market Miami Edition on Saturday. The Makers & Finders market in Murwillumbah is celebrating their birthday with a Mad Hatters tea party this weekend. There’ll be a wonderland of fun activities for the littlies including children’s entertainment, music, storytelling, fancy dress competition and raffle, jumping castle, flamingo croquet, photo booth, dress-ups plus the unpredictable antics of the eccentric Mad Hatter. If you’re keen to get the blood pumping, say yes to fun and sign up for The Color Run, aka the happiest 5k on the planet! The colourful event flies into Broadwater Parklands on Sunday with a brand new hero-themed tour so feel free to wear your undies on the outside of your pants. If you’re not yet acquainted with the event, basically you’ll set off in your crisp white shirt and be blasted with colour bombs at various intervals along the way until you end up looking like the inside of a kaleidoscope. Fun, right?! You needn’t be a fantastic runner, you can run, skip, walk or crawl your way along the course and join in the epic party at the finishing line with live music, dancing and more massive colour throws. Doggo lovers, primp your precious pooch and treat your four-legged fur baby to a dogs day out at Paws at the Park at Mudgeeraba Showgrounds on Sunday. It will be puppy-palooza with over 80 markets stalls brimming with your favourite doggy products and services as well as talks and demos, a fundraising raffle for Animal Welfare League Qld, a doga class (that’s doggy yoga, FYI), flower crown classes and more! There is an off lead area for your pups to play and socialise as well as some sweet prizes for best dressed and best tricks.

Live Music
Ordinarily reserved for late night revellers and ravers, elsewhere in Surfers Paradise is celebrating its 15th birthday with a spectacular three-day celebration that will see the club open at 2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday (hellooooo Sunday session!). If we’ve learnt anything over the past 15 years it’s that elsewhere doesn’t do things by halves so expect them to go all out with interstate guests, elsewhere DJs, live music, live art and plenty more. Keen to kick it old-school this weekend? Head back to Rydell High with the Pink Ladies and T-Birds at a special 40th anniversary sing-a-long screening of Grease at the Yatala Drive-In. Belt out your best ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ and ‘Beauty School Drop Out’ before bringing it home with a show-stopping rendition of ‘You’re the One That I Want’ – you know you want to! Last but in no way least, the Australian Bee Gees Show will be heading Down Under for the Australian leg of their 2018 ‘Direct from Vegas’ world tour at The Star on Saturday. The spectacular stage show will feature all of your fave Bee Gees tracks in this nostalgic trip down memory lane.