Since its rebirth in 2010, HOTA Gold Coast has quickly established itself as one of Australia’s premier arts destinations. Who knew Surfers paradise would ever become a cultural hub?
HOTA’s programming for 2024 is impressive, spanning visual arts, dance, theatre, comedy and music, with a diverse array of performances and exhibitions – something for all arts lovers.
Theatre fans can look forward to Agapi & Other Kinds of Love on February 15, a show featuring Australian-Greek poet Luka Lesson drawing from his cultural heritage to explore the manifold meanings of love in Ancient Greece in a performance fusing rap with music and poetry.
Shock Therapy Arts’ Fuel takes to the stage March 13-14 and follows the descent of a young couple’s initially loving relationship into a quagmire of domestic violence. The dissolution of their union weaves together cinematic audio visuals with dynamic sound design, political satire and psychological drama to traverse the complicated territory of domestic violence, revealing the psychology behind it and the broader societal contributory factors.
In May, writer and actor Jonathan Biggins return to the stage as former Australian prime minister Paul Keating in his award-winning show, The Gospel According to Paul. Laced with Keating’s signature biting intelligence and wit, the performance offers a funny, insightful and poignant portrait of the nation’s 24th federal leader.
Brisbane’s acclaimed shake & stir theatre company brings a trio of shows to the Gold Coast. Fans of high priestess of murder mysteries, Agatha Christie, will revel in her 1952 play, The Mousetrap, running from May 29 to June 2. Their award-winning production of Shannon Molloy’s memoir, Fourteen, also comes to HOTA in August. It tells Molloy’s story of growing up gay amid a backdrop of bullying, betrayal and torment in Central Queensland.
In the September school holidays you can see shake & stir’s stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, James and the Giant Peach. Bursting with magic, mischief and mayhem, the show invites audiences to join James and his collection of curious critters on an enchanting journey that takes him from his suburban backyard to destinations across the world.
Music buffs also have plenty to look forward to with local and international artists taking to HOTA’s stages, indoors and outdoors. UK singer-songwriter Sarah-Louise Young’s cabaret tribute to Kate Bush, cheekily called An Evening Without Kate Bush, is on January 27, and in March Brazilian performer Gilberto Gill’s show Aquele Abraco will command the HOTA Theatre.
April 12 sees Jessica Mauboy’s Yours Forever tour hit the Gold Coast and May 4 brings the Ministry of Sound’s Classical performance to the outdoor stage. With 30 years as the global authority on dance music under its belt, Ministry of Sound offers dance music aficionados the opportunity to relive all the greatest club anthems completely remixed, rearranged and reimagined by its orchestra and DJ Groove Terminator.
On May 10, Nikki Nouveau presents the intriguing life and times of legendary Parisian artist Edith Piaf through song and story in No Regrets: The Edith Piaf Story. Delivered in French and English, the spellbinding show features classic songs including La Vie En Rose and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, alongside other timeless tunes.
In May, multiple ARIA award-winner Tina Arena’s Love Saves world tour takes to the outdoor stage and that same month Missy Higgins celebrates the 20th anniversary of her debut album, The Sound of White, with a concert that invites attendees to picnic al fresco while enjoying the show.
Comedy fans can look forward to performances from Tom Ballard (February 3), Aidan Jones (March 2), The Stevenson Experience (March 22), The Umbilical Brothers (March 23), Jason Leong (May 7) and Joel Creasey (July 13), while dance lovers can expect exquisite moves from China’s celebrated Shen Yung classic dance troupe (February 23-25) and a glimpse into Pacific Islands history when Fresh Movement Arts and Freshman’s Dance Crew stage Maui in August.
Queensland Ballet brings Coppelia to the HOTA Theatre November 1-2 and indigenous company Bangarra Dance Theatre returns to the Gold Coast with Waru: Journey of the Small Turtle. The company’s first dedicated work for children, Waru tells the story of Migi, a green turtle, as she navigates a journey of discovery and survival under the star-illuminated skies of the Torres Strait.
On March 29 the magnificence of the Italian Renaissance comes to Queensland when Italian Renaissance Alive opens at HOTA Gallery. Visitors will be transported by the history and splendour of the period as they are immersed in imagery of hundreds of masterpieces from some of the art world’s most revered visual artists and sculptors.
Accompanied by a powerful operatic score featuring Puccini and Verdi, this multi-sensory exhibition will plunge viewers into Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Leonardi DaVinci’s Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and works from the likes of Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian and Veronese.
Italian Renaissance Alive’s oeuvre traverses the entire Renaissance period, from the 14th to 17th centuries and celebrates the exceptional artistic and cultural influences of the time, exposing audiences to its rich culture, architecture, painting, sculpture and literature.
Once Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street wraps up February 18, art lovers will also have an opportunity to see HOTA Collects: Made in Surfers Paradise, an exhibition showcasing the colourful fashions of the city in the 1950s and ’60s. That runs until April 20, with Donna Marcus, Radiate running until April 28.

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Colour Your Imagination: Just Add Books, local painter Victoria Reichelt’s whimsical ode to the worlds that are opened up to children by reading, closes at HOTA Children’s Gallery on January 28 and will be followed by Australian multidisciplinary artist Abdul Abdullah. His Kingdom of Kindness will invite children to directly engage with the anthropomorphic rocks that feature in his works, bringing them to life with the addition of each child’s creativity. There is so much in store, for everyone, at HOTA.
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