Gold Coast to Host Inaugural Sound Collective Festival on Feb 20, 2027

A one‑day music festival will take over the Gold Coast’s Broadwater Parklands on Saturday, February 20, 2027. The event, called Sound Collective, will feature artists from Australia, New Zealand and the United States across reggae, soul, R&B and hip‑hop.

Tickets for the festival will go on sale at 9 a.m. AEST on Friday, September 18, 2026, after a presale that opens at 9 a.m. on Thursday, September 17. The presale is available to those who sign up on the festival’s website.

The lineup includes Hawaiian‑born reggae‑soul singer Maoli, New Zealand pop‑R&B star Stan Walker, Māori roots‑reggae band Katchafire, and Grammy‑winning American hip‑hop group Arrested Development. Other confirmed acts are US reggae outfit SOJA, New Zealand R&B trio A.R.T., Gold Coast‑based nine‑piece Bradamon Band and Indigenous Australian singer Riah.

Promoter Scott Mesiti said the festival’s name reflects the crossover of genres that “has a cruisey simplicity to it that almost puts a calming spell over the crowd.” Mesiti added that the event will bring together a “diverse range of cultures” and that the lineup was chosen to showcase that diversity.

Maoli, who has achieved over one billion global streams across his catalogue, will headline the festival after completing his MMO trilogy with the album MMO3 in 2026. He said he was excited to return to Australia, calling the country a “second home.”

Walker will perform with his full band and will bring new material to the Gold Coast for the first time since his 2024 festival appearance. He has remained active in music and television in 2026, including a contribution to the soundtrack for Moana: Voices Across The Ocean.

Katchafire, formed in 2002, has built an international following through tours in Australia, the Pacific, Europe and North America. Arrested Development, the first hip‑hop act to win a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1993, will return to Australia after a 2025 local tour.

SOJA, a Grammy‑nominated group formed in Virginia in 1997, released the album Without Surrender in 2026. A.R.T., Bradamon Band and Riah add R&B, soul and Indigenous Australian influences to the program.

The festival will also select a local artist to open the event through a competition that will be announced later. Mayor Tom Tate praised the lineup, calling it “the best soul festival for the coast” and noting that the event will “attract the best artists from Australia and Aotearoa to the big stage at Broadwater Parklands.” He highlighted the festival’s role in diversifying the Gold Coast’s events calendar.

Sound Collective will run for approximately ten hours, offering music, food and cultural performances. The event is scheduled for 18 + audiences.

Ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets through the festival’s official website, where presale and general‑sale details are posted. The festival’s organizers have not yet released a full schedule of performance times.

The Gold Coast’s Broadwater Parklands, a large community park that opened in 2009, has hosted a variety of events and is a popular venue for outdoor gatherings. The 2027 festival will be the first major music event of its kind to take place there.

Sound Collective’s inaugural edition is set to bring together a mix of established and emerging artists, offering a platform for cross‑cultural collaboration and a new addition to the Gold Coast’s growing festival scene.