NightQuarter reopens on Sunshine Coast after leaving Gold Coast
A popular night market and live entertainment venue opens on the Sunshine Coast this weekend after being forced out of the Gold Coast.
QLD Taste
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Taste. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Gold Coast’s loss will be rival the Sunshine Coast’s gain when an award-winning southeast Queensland night market and live music venue reopens in a new home at Birtinya this weekend, after being forced out of the Glitter Strip.
The NightQuarter was one of the Gold Coast’s top attractions when it operated at Westfield Helensvale, drawing thousands each weekend to savour street food and soak up entertainment from some of Australia’s biggest acts, including Amy Shark and The Cat Empire.
Glenn Tozer to front Councillor Conduct Tribunal after complaint about Nightquarter review
NightQuarter: Popular venue leaves Gold Coast for Sunshine Coast after site negotiations fail
NightQuarter revival: ‘Pushed as hard as I could’
It took out the 2019 Queensland Music Award for best regional venue, as well as the 2016 Gold Coast Music Award for best live venue.
But operators Michelle Christoe and Ian Van der Woude abandoned the Gold Coast after being hit with a 100 per cent rent rise on the Helensvale site.
A public campaign to save the attraction – including a petition started by a local teenager that attracted 20,000 signatures – failed, and NightQuarter relocated to the Stockland Birtinya Shopping Centre.
Alternative sites on the Gold Coast including Metricon Stadium and the former Commonwealth Games Village at Parklands were deemed not suitable.
“The (Birtinya) site met all the criteria for what we’d been looking for,” Ms Christoe said last year.
“Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find a site on the Gold Coast.”
NightQuarter’s reopening night tonight is sold out, the operators say
