BLEACH* Festival Has Launched A Huge 2025 Program With Floating Skywhales

The Gold Coast's premier arts and cultural festival, BLEACH* Festival is back for 2025, bringing 11 huge days of art, music and culture to the Gold Coast for its 14th year.

Running from Thursday 31 July to Sunday 10 August, BLEACH* will transform the city’s landscapes through 20+ major works spanning live music, performance and visual art installations, across both free and ticketed events. 

One of Australia’s fastest growing and most dynamic festivals, BLEACH* Festival 2024 will traverse three main hubs across the Gold Coast: Broadbeach's Kurrawa Park, Emerald Lakes and Home of the Arts (HOTA). 

Image Credit: BLEACH* | Supplied

Delivered by Experience Gold Coast and with acclaimed arist Michael Zavros at the helm for the first time, BLEACH* continues to push boundaries, delivering a cutting-edge program of contemporary art, music and theatre that challenges perceptions and embeds art into our everyday, all framed by the magnificent Gold Coast coastline. 

“This year, BLEACH* wants us to look skywards with the incredible addition of floating art setting the tone for the 2025 festival. I urge everyone to make a date with BLEACH* over the 11 days and be prepared to be amazed," said Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.

BLEACH* Festival Highlights

• First Light: Skywhales Across Australia, a breathtaking dawn performance featuring Patricia Piccinini’s iconic Skywhale and Skywhalepapa balloons drifting from RACV Royal Pines across the city skyline.

• In Conversation with Jeff Koons, an exclusive evening at HOTA with one of the world’s most influential contemporary artists, facilitated by Alison Kubler.

• Ladies Lounge by Kirsha Kaechele, a boldly feminist installation at HOTA Gallery with a strict entry policy, elevated by Tora Lopez’s Complaints Department for those left outside.

• Breaking Into Heaven by SELVE, a world premiere performance blending music, dance and visual art, recorded at Abbey Road and featuring a 33-piece orchestra and dancers from Karul Projects on Friday 1 August.

• OPA! A Night of Greek Delights, a celebration of Greek heritage through food, music, and storytelling, including a live podcast with Savva Savas and Alex Perry on Saturday 2 August.

• The City Speaks Softly, a thoughtful textile-based public artwork by Melissa Spratt and Tal Fitzpatrick, installed across key Gold Coast locations and exploring softness and care in urban spaces.

• Drum As You Are, a high-energy live music event at HOTA’s Outdoor Stage, reimagining Nirvana’s classics with 22 drummers and frontman Phil Jamieson, on Sunday 3 August.

• Cavalcade, the awe-inspiring closing weekend centrepiece on Kurrawa Beach, blending live orchestral music, operatic vocals and equestrian artistry as the sun sets over the ocean.

Over 11 electrifying days, you’ll be hard-pressed to pack in all the incredible events you want to see, but we suggest you peruse the mind-bogglingly packed schedule and start creating your must-do list.

Image Credit: BLEACH* | Supplied