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. See our Gold Coast events guide and upcoming Burleigh events for the full calendar.
Which big events happen in Burleigh Heads itself?
Burleigh Point hosts professional and club surfing competitions through summer and autumn, Justins Park on the beachfront hosts the whale festival in winter, and the rest of the coast’s fixtures sit within a short drive. The Saturday market and the dated Gold Coast calendar are covered elsewhere on this page. Distances are measured from our front door on Park Avenue.
Burleigh Single Fin Festival, January
Three days of single-fin surfing at Burleigh Point, run by the Burleigh Boardriders club and presented by Billabong and Gage Roads. It is held in January and ran its 29th edition in 2026, and the hill above the point is the place to watch from. Burleigh Point is about 800 metres from the apartment, roughly a ten minute walk.
Gold Coast Open, February
A World Surf League Qualifying Series event run by Surfing Queensland at Burleigh Point in late summer, drawing the region’s best surfers and a handful of Championship Tour names. The 2026 event, in February, was upgraded to a QS 4,000 and ran over five days, and the titles went to Isla Huppatz and Dane Henry, the reigning world junior champions. The next dates are published on the World Surf League calendar.
Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final, March
Surfing Australia’s national club championship decider: 42 qualified clubs surf tag-team heats at Burleigh Heads over a weekend in March, with food trucks and a festival-like atmosphere on site. Burleigh is confirmed as the host through 2029, so it is one to plan a stay around. North Shelly Boardriders took the 2026 title.
Gold Coast Pro, Snapper Rocks, May
The World Surf League Championship Tour’s Gold Coast stop runs over an eleven day window at Snapper Rocks in Coolangatta in May, with the world’s best surfers on the point. Ethan Ewing and Stephanie Gilmore won in 2026. Snapper Rocks is about 22 minutes’ drive south.
Currumbin RSL Anzac Day dawn service, 25 April
Every 25 April, Currumbin RSL holds its dawn service on the sand at Elephant Rock, Currumbin Beach, which the RSL describes as the largest regional dawn service in Australia. The march steps off at 4.40am and the service begins at 5am. Elephant Rock is about a 12 minute drive, and local media expected a crowd of up to fifty thousand in 2026, so leave early.
Blues on Broadbeach, May
Four days of live blues across the streets, parks and venues of Broadbeach each May, produced by Experience Gold Coast and predominantly free, with a ticketed headline show on the Sunday. The 2026 festival was its 25th anniversary. Broadbeach is about 13 minutes’ drive.
Gold Coast Whale and Ocean Festival, Justins Park, July
A free community festival run by the not-for-profit Humpbacks and High-rises at Justins Park on the Burleigh beachfront, with marine science talks, stalls and live music through the day. The 2026 festival was held on Saturday 4 July. Justins Park is about 500 metres from the apartment, roughly a seven minute walk.
Pacific Airshow Gold Coast, August
Three days of display flying over Surfers Paradise Beach in mid August, free to watch from the public beach outside the ticketed precinct, with tickets sold for the closer viewing areas. Surfers Paradise is about 17 minutes’ drive north.
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.
What has been on near Burleigh in the last year?
A short recap of the year just gone, so you can see the shape of the calendar before you pick your dates. Most of these fixtures come back every year, and the organisers publish the next dates on their own sites.
- January 2026: the Burleigh Single Fin Festival ran its 29th edition over three days at Burleigh Point. It returns each January.
- February 2026: the Gold Coast Open brought a World Surf League Qualifying Series field to Burleigh Point for five days, and Isla Huppatz and Dane Henry, the reigning world junior champions, took the titles. Dates for the next edition are published on the World Surf League calendar.
- March 2026: the Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final ran at Burleigh Heads in three to four foot surf, and North Shelly Boardriders won. Burleigh is confirmed as the host through 2029.
- April 2026: dawn broke over the Currumbin RSL Anzac Day service at Elephant Rock, Currumbin Beach. It is held every 25 April.
- May 2026: the Gold Coast Pro brought the World Surf League Championship Tour to Snapper Rocks, Coolangatta, and Ethan Ewing and Stephanie Gilmore won. The next Gold Coast dates are on the World Surf League calendar.
- May 2026: Blues on Broadbeach marked its 25th anniversary with four days of live music, most of it free, across Broadbeach. It returns each May.
- July 2026: the Gold Coast Whale and Ocean Festival filled Justins Park, on the Burleigh beachfront, with a free day of marine science talks, stalls and live music. The organiser publishes the next date on its site.
- August 2026: the Pacific Airshow flew three days of displays over Surfers Paradise Beach, free to watch from the public beach. The organiser publishes the next dates on its site.
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
Should we book early for the big event weekends?
Yes. We take bookings up to twelve months ahead, and our busiest periods are Christmas and New Year, the school holidays and long weekends, so for an event weekend the earlier you book the better the choice of apartment. Booking direct gives you our best available rate with no booking fees.
Can we walk to the Burleigh events from the apartment?
Yes. The sand at Burleigh Beach is about 300 metres away, roughly a five minute walk. Justins Park, home of the Whale and Ocean Festival, is about 500 metres, roughly a seven minute walk, and Burleigh Point, where the surf competitions run, is about 800 metres, roughly a ten minute walk. Burleigh Market is about 1.2 kilometres away, a three minute drive or roughly fifteen minutes on foot.
Where do we park during the big events?
Every apartment comes with one free space in our secure undercover basement car park, so on event days you can leave the car where it is and walk to anything in Burleigh. Burleigh Market has free parking on the school oval. For events further along the coast, allow extra time to park.
Which events suit families?
Most of them. The Whale and Ocean Festival at Justins Park is a free family day with marine science talks, stalls and live music; Burleigh Market is an easy Saturday morning; the SWELL Sculpture Festival at Currumbin is a free walk along the beach past large sculptures; Blues on Broadbeach is mostly free and spread through the parks and streets; and the surf competitions at Burleigh Point are watched from the hill above the break. Children of any age are welcome at The Village, and our two and three bedroom apartments sleep four and six.
What is on around Burleigh through the year?
Summer brings the Single Fin Festival in January and the Gold Coast Open in February, both at Burleigh Point. Autumn has the Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final in March, the Anzac Day dawn service at Elephant Rock on 25 April, and Blues on Broadbeach and the Gold Coast Pro at Snapper Rocks in May. Winter has the Whale and Ocean Festival at Justins Park in July and the Pacific Airshow over Surfers Paradise in August. Spring opens with the SWELL Sculpture Festival at Currumbin in September and runs into the dated Gold Coast calendar on this page, and Burleigh Market is on every Saturday.
How do we get to Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise or HOTA without a car?
The Pacific Fair shuttle bus stops right outside our entry, regular bus services run along the Gold Coast Highway nearby, and the express 777 bus stops outside the Burleigh Bowls Club directly across the road. By car, Broadbeach is about 13 minutes, Surfers Paradise about 17, Coolangatta about 18 and HOTA about 19. Taxis and rideshare also operate across the coast.
Will it be noisy on event weekends?
The Village sits a block back from James Street on the quiet, garden side of Burleigh. Quiet hours apply after 10pm, parties and hen or stag groups are not accepted, and permanent residents share the complex with our guests, and guests describe it as central but quiet.
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