This May, annual surf festival Flotsam turns its focus firmly to home, unveiling a powerful program of exhibitions and events that celebrate the Gold Coast’s rich surf culture, visual history and creative community all set against the coastline that inspired it.
At the heart of the program, Icons transforms the exterior of The Pink Hotel into a striking open-air gallery. Through large-scale black-and-white photography, the exhibition captures a coastline in transition – from lost landmarks to enduring surf breaks – offering a raw, unfiltered tribute to the people and places that define the region. Each image connects to deeper stories via QR codes, linking you to the stories behind each frame. Launching May 6 with rooftop drinks and a film night at Eddie’s Bar, Icons is both a celebration and a time capsule of the Gold Coast’s evolving identity.
The festival’s signature exhibition, Focal Point, invites audiences to experience surf history where it happened. Curated by award-winning author Tim Baker, this immersive outdoor trail places legendary surf photographs back into their original vantage points from Snapper Rocks to Burleigh Headland. Featuring works by leading photographers including Ted Grambeau and Peter 'Joli' Wilson, the exhibition offers a living timeline of one of the world’s most iconic surfing coastlines. Coolangatta installations will run for the duration of the Flotsam Festival, May 1-15, while Burleigh works will pop up the second week of the festival, May 8-15. Each installation will be augmented by AR, allowing visitors to access the backstories of each image directly through their phones.
Wish You Were Here, a nostalgic and deeply personal exhibition by iconic surfer, shaper and photographer Richard Harvey, will showcase a unique collection of vintage postcards alongside Harvey’s own photography. The exhibition traces the evolution of the Gold Coast as both a surf destination and a visual icon. Running from May 1–15 at The Sands Hotel, the exhibition culminates in a special Talk Story event on May 13, where Harvey will reflect on how postcard imagery once shaped tourism long before the digital age.
Closing out the program, the Flotsam Homegrown Wrap Party takes over John Laws Park for a free, open-air celebration of local talent. With finalist film screenings, photography awards, live music and outdoor exhibitions, the event brings together the region’s most exciting emerging creatives in a vibrant showcase of grassroots storytelling. Together, these events capture the essence of the Gold Coast — past, present and future — through the people and images that continue to shape its story.