Eye on the Horizon Festival
Prepare yourself for ten days and nights celebrating the cultural vibrancy of our region as the Horizon Festival returns in 2022. Carlie Wacker previews the dynamic program for the Sunshine Coast’s leading contemporary multi-arts festival.
Horizon Festival returns to connect, delight and disrupt with a ten-day program connecting people, arts, culture and place. Local and national artists will deliver showstopping performances in music, visual art, theatre, dance, words and ideas and creative workshops.
I have had the chance to look over the horizon to see what magic awaits – and my mind is blown!
Evocative and thought-provoking performances in magical locations; celebrations of homegrown talent; visual art and workshops to engage and enchant; and a dedicated program connecting us with First Nations artists, the Kabi Kabi and Jinabara peoples.
In fact, First Nations artists from within and outside the region will open the Festival by delivering a breathtaking Opening Ceremony at sunset in Cotton Tree on the opening Friday. Then at the closing of the festival, Dawn Awakening willl return, a stunning multi-arts celebration of remembrance, dreaming and ritual, directed by Lyndon Davis, will take place as the sun rises over Stumers Creek in Coolum.
You will dance, laugh, cry and wonder of the magic that will take place in the region’s first Wonderland Spiegeltent!
Think a fantasia of fun and jawdropping acrobatics as well as an intimate space that sets the stage for side-splitting comedy or soulful singers belting out much-loved classics.
We can’t give it all away but let’s just say, one of the acts may be one of Australia’s favourite “Kates”.
The spiegeltent surrounds, overlooking the Maroochy River at Cotton Tree, will include a grooving garden that will become the hub of Horizon Festival with banging beats, cool cocktails and fab food to get you ready for a night that has it all – dinner, drinks and a show!
Horizon Kids will surprise and delight with some of Australia’s well-known children’s entertainers as well as drop
in workshops providing something for everyone.
Homegrown 2022 will highlight the contemporary artists of the region showcasing projects across dance, theatre, music, visual arts, and interdisciplinary works that have been
in the progress for the last six months.
Performances aplenty will be driven by a desire to see art in all its forms embedded into the identity of the region.
Music will highlight the connection with land with a plethora of open air gigs bringing sublime sounds to some of your favourite Sunshine Coast locations.
Similarly, the Visual Arts Program will take advantage of the natural environment from gallery collections to on-site installations inviting you to immerse yourself in interactive and innovative art experiences.
There is an abundance of workshops, field trips, a storyteller’s festival and moments in art and culture that will instil a deep sense of connection to community and pay respect to the Traditional Custodians and original storytellers of this country; the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Peoples of the coastal plains and hinterlands of the Sunshine Coast
Something truly special is on the horizon and I wish I could say more! The program officially launches 16 June so be quick to check it out and don’t miss out!
