The Gold Coast contemporary arts extravaganza mingles sport and arts in this year’s festival, says AD Louise Bezzina.

The Bleach* Festival has announced its 2017 programme – a swathe of music, circus, theatre, dance, cabaret and installation events presented at more than 20 venues across the city. The festival, which spans two weeks and three weekends, prides itself on making use of the public spaces and natural landscapes of the Gold Coast.

“Each year I think about our city, the landscape, the temperature and begin to curate a body of work that speaks to a specific theme or through line,” Bleach* Festival’s Artistic Director Louise Bezzina tells Limelight. “In 2017, the Festival explores and interrogates the relationship between sport and art, and the playful moments of collaboration where these experiences collide, merge, interact, conflict and complement.”

^{Fun Run, photo by David Choo}

“In the lead up to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games,” she says, “Bleach* Festival and many of our collaborating artists will take inspiration from these concepts, with a highly physical and highly visual programme that encourages celebration and...