Dope Lemon will headline the opening music session of Sessions Surf Festival on the Gold Coast, with Babe Rainbow, Mt Warning, Makua, Laurel Hill and Ella Fence joining the Miami Marketta lineup on May 23.
The Gold Coast has always been good at turning surf culture into something bigger than the beach, and this one sits right in that pocket.
Sessions Surf Festival lands with the kind of lineup that makes sense near saltwater: woozy guitars, psych-pop, coastal energy and a Miami Marketta setting built for a long afternoon that rolls into night.
It gives the Goldie a tidy little surf-meets-music moment: one part coastal culture, one part psych-rock day out, one part Marketta laneway session.
Surf, music and Gold Coast culture
The festival brings together surf, music, film and art, with the 2026 Gold Coast program stretching across a full week of events.
It previously debuted as Solento Surf Festival, before returning under the Sessions Surf Festival banner with an expanded program and a stronger live music focus.
For the Gold Coast, the fit is obvious.
Surf culture has always carried its own soundtrack here, from beach car parks and boardriders clubs to backyard parties, indie bands, longboard films and the kind of sun-faded guitar music that makes more sense near saltwater.
Putting a lineup like this into Miami Marketta feels less like a random festival booking and more like the Gold Coast leaning into one of the things it already does well.
A strong live music play for the Gold Coast
The event lands in a busy run for Gold Coast live music, with festival, surf and venue programming all stacking up around May.
Miami Marketta remains one of the city’s most reliable music rooms for touring acts and larger cultural events, especially when a lineup needs more atmosphere than a standard black-box venue.
That matters for an event like Sessions Surf Festival, which is not just selling a gig. It is selling a mood: late afternoon, coastal crowd, big-name headliner, surf films and creative culture orbiting around the music.
For locals, it is also another sign that the Gold Coast’s live music calendar is not only being built around major stadium moments or nightclub programming.
There is still plenty of room for events that sit somewhere between beach culture, indie music, hospitality and the city’s growing arts identity.
Sessions Surf Festival details
Sessions Surf Festival runs on the Gold Coast from May 23–30, with the Miami Marketta music session taking place from 2pm on May 23.
Other festival programming includes surf, film, art and community events across the Gold Coast.
Tickets for the Miami Marketta music session are available through the festival and venue ticketing pages.
Want more Gold Coast live music?
What do you think?
Show comments / Leave a comment