What is on in Burleigh Heads
Find out about upcoming Burleigh Heads events, Gold Coast events, and plan your stay at our resort to make the most of them!
We are about 300 metres from the sand at Burleigh Beach, roughly a five minute walk, and most of the Gold Coast’s spring and summer calendar sits inside a twenty minute drive of The Village at Burleigh. Between September 2026 and March 2027 that means SWELL at Currumbin, BLEACH* at HOTA, free country music at Broadbeach, supercars in Surfers Paradise and a market every Saturday. See our Gold Coast events guide and upcoming Burleigh events for the full calendar.
What is on near Burleigh Heads this spring?
Crafted Festival Gold Coast
Saturday 12 September 2026 at Kurrawa Park, Broadbeach, about 13 minutes’ drive from the apartment. Ticketed through Oztix. A beachside craft beer and cider festival close enough that a relaxed afternoon does not turn into a long trip home.
BLEACH* Festival
Thursday 1 to Sunday 11 October 2026 at the HOTA precinct, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise, about 19 minutes’ drive. A mix of free and ticketed events. Eleven days of live music, dance, theatre and installations in one lakeside precinct, which makes it the easiest thing on this page to build a whole trip around.
Shaw and Partners Coolangatta Gold
Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 October 2026 at Coolangatta Beach, about 19 minutes’ drive south. Competitors pay an entry fee and the official page does not list a spectator price. Watching Australia’s best surf lifesavers grind out a 25.6 km ocean course from the sand is one of the few events where the spectating is as good as the racing.
What can we do near Burleigh Heads that costs nothing?
SWELL Sculpture Festival
Friday 11 to Sunday 20 September 2026 along the Currumbin Beach ocean walkway through to Flat Rock at Tugun, about 12 minutes’ drive south. Free to walk the beach exhibition, with workshops and events ticketed separately. More than sixty large sculptures set along the sand turn an ordinary beach morning into an outing, and this is the festival’s 24th year.
Groundwater Country Music Festival
Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October 2026 across the streets, parks and venues of Broadbeach, about 11 minutes’ drive. Free, with no tickets required. Three days of live country music with nothing to book and no queue, which is a rare thing in October.
Which Gold Coast events are worth planning a stay around?
Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500
Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October 2026 on the Surfers Paradise street circuit, about 17 minutes’ drive north. Ticketed. Supercars on a closed street circuit, and basing yourself south of it at Burleigh means you skip the worst of the traffic.
Pan Pacific Masters Games
Friday 6 to Sunday 15 November 2026, with the games hub at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, about 11 minutes’ drive, and competition across the city. Competitors pay their own entry, and Pan Pacs Central runs evening entertainment. More than 16,000 athletes across more than 40 sports, so supporters and families always have somewhere to be once the day’s events finish.
TAB Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival
Mid January 2027. The 2027 Gold Coast Yearling Sale opens on Tuesday 12 January 2027 at the Magic Millions sales complex at Bundall, and the headline raceday runs at the Gold Coast Turf Club, about 20 minutes’ drive. Raceday tickets are sold separately. The Gold Coast’s summer racing week is a dress up day out twenty minutes from the beach, and the official calendar carries the confirmed dates as they are published.
Is there a market near The Village at Burleigh?
Burleigh Market
Every Saturday from 7am to 12 noon in the grounds of Burleigh Heads State School, on the corner of the Lower Gold Coast Highway and West Burleigh Road, about 3 minutes’ drive. Free entry and free parking on the school oval, with pre-lived rack sales on the last Saturday of each month. It is a genuine local farmers, arts and crafts market and the way locals start the weekend.
Miami Marketta
Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm, every week, at 23 Hillcrest Parade, Miami, about 6 minutes’ drive. Free entry to the street food market, with gigs ticketed separately. Four nights a week of street food six minutes away solves dinner without anyone having to plan it.
Our guide to the Burleigh to Miami weekend markets circuit walks through both in more detail.
What is on over summer and into autumn?
HOTA Gallery summer exhibitions
Three shows run across most of the window at HOTA Gallery, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise, about 19 minutes’ drive. Minna Gilligan: True Colours runs from Saturday 12 September 2026 to Sunday 28 February 2027, Energies 26 from Saturday 17 October 2026 to Friday 5 February 2027, and the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award 2026 from Saturday 28 November 2026 to Sunday 7 March 2027. The listing does not state pricing per exhibition. Between them they cover almost the whole window, which makes the gallery a reliable wet weather plan that does not depend on a single date.
Gold Coast T100 Triathlon
Saturday 20 to Sunday 21 March 2027, starting at Broadwater Parklands in Southport, about 24 minutes’ drive, and finishing in Surfers Paradise. Competitors pay an entry fee and it is free to watch from the course. A flat, fast course worth timing a late March stay around, whether you are racing or watching.
Grazy Arvo with Koalas
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm, all year, at the Koala Habitat inside Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin, about 11 minutes’ drive. A bookable experience with sanctuary admission included, capped at 36 people a session. A small group afternoon with koalas and a grazing platter that fits around whatever else the trip is doing.
Stay nearby
We are about 300 metres from the sand at Burleigh Beach and within about twenty minutes of almost everything on this page, so you can walk home from the sand and drive to the rest. Check dates and rates for your stay with us.
Common questions about events near The Village at Burleigh
How far is HOTA from The Village at Burleigh?
HOTA, Home of the Arts, is at 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise, about a 19 minute drive from The Village at Burleigh covering 13.0 km.
Which markets can we walk or drive to easily?
Burleigh Market runs every Saturday from 7am to 12 noon in the grounds of Burleigh Heads State School, on the corner of the Lower Gold Coast Highway and West Burleigh Road, about a 3 minute drive with free entry and free parking on the oval. Miami Marketta’s street food market is 6 minutes away at 23 Hillcrest Parade, Miami, open Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm with free entry.
Are any of the big Gold Coast events free?
Groundwater Country Music Festival runs three days of free live music across Broadbeach from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October 2026, with no tickets required. BLEACH* Festival at HOTA from Thursday 1 to Sunday 11 October 2026 has a mix of free and ticketed events.
When is SWELL Sculpture Festival and where does it run?
SWELL runs from Friday 11 to Sunday 20 September 2026 along the Currumbin Beach ocean walkway through to Flat Rock at Tugun, about a 12 minute drive south of us. It is the festival’s 24th year.
What is on at Broadbeach in October?
Groundwater Country Music Festival takes over Broadbeach from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October 2026 with three days of free live music. Crafted Festival is also at Kurrawa Park in Broadbeach, a little earlier on Saturday 12 September 2026. Broadbeach is about 11 minutes from the apartment.
Spring hits Burleigh: what September changes at the beach
What changes in Burleigh Heads when spring arrives: warmer water, returning surf patrols, whale watching and the first big festival, from The Village Burleigh.
Burleigh on zero dollars: The Village free list
Five genuinely free things to do in Burleigh Heads from The Village Burleigh, from a headland whale watch to a creek swim and the Saturday produce market.
First light at Burleigh: early swims and 6am coffee from The Village
First light in Burleigh is the best part of the day. Five early-morning spots within a short reach of The Village, from a dawn swim to 6am coffee.