It’s that time again Gold Coasters (unsure how but what can you do). Christmas is here, or it may as well be, since there are decorations everywhere and you may now pop down to see the big guy for a snap.

That’s right, it’s time to book in your Santa portraits pals and here’s the lineup of where you can do exactly that around the Coast. Hip, hip hooray, the years of socially distanced snaps are but a distant memory. We’re back to sharing a big chair, the way we all remember it.

Pacific Fair
Visit Santa’s Golden Palace filled with golden treasures for all to enjoy from Saturday 2nd November until Christmas Eve. Pacific Fair hosts Santa photos for everyone including pet photos for pictures with your fur babies, and Sensitive Santa, an experience with dimmed lights and no crowds. Plus, have your Santa Photo taken at Santa’s Palace from 2 November – 8 December to automatically go in the draw to WIN a family trip to Lapland in Christmas 2025! Book here.
Where: Santa’s Golden Palace, Ground Floor outside Myer, Broadbeach

Santaland at Myer
Embark on a magical Christmas journey at Santaland! Jump on the Santaland Express, create festive art with Santa’s helpers, send wish-lists to the North Pole, and cherish the moment with Santa for an enchanting family photo. Plus, don’t forget your furry friends! Santa Paws welcomes your four-legged family members for a festive snapshot with Santa. Santaland photos are available from the 23rd November until Christmas Eve. Book here.
Where: Santaland, Myer near the Toy section, Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Broadbeach

Robina Town Centre
Meet Santa in his magical Enchanted Forest from Saturday 2nd November until Christmas Eve. There’s also an option for a Sensitive Santa experience in a low-stress, sensory-friendly environment that can be enjoyed by all, without the crowds, queues and noise (on selected days from November 9 to December 15), and special Baby’s First Christmas photo packages. Auslan Santa will return to Robina Town Centre, making the magic of Christmas more inclusive and accessible to customers with hearing impaired children. Sessions will be longer than usual to allow Christmas wishes to be shared via sign language with Santa and sessions will be available on Saturday 23 November from 9am to 11am.

Santa of course won’t be forgetting his favourite furry friends, with Pet Photography returning to feature inside Robina Town Centre after trading hours this year. From 8 November until 15 December, Santa will be rewarding all well-behaved friends with a special gift.

Santa Photos are available online for bookings now and early birds who make bookings until November 30 will receive a FREE 6×8 photo and go in the running to WIN a $1,000 shopping spree—talk about Christmas coming early! Book here.
Where: Outside Myer and Kookai, Robina Town Centre, Robina

Sanctuary Cove
Mark the annual Christmas tradition with a photo with Santa at Sanctuary Cove. Meet Father Christmas with your little ones (and fur babies too) inside Santa’s igloo and capture the moment to remember for years to come. The Santa photo booth will be open from 10am-3pm on 7th, 8th, 12th, 14th & 15th December, and 6.30pm – 8.30pm on Friday 13th December. Pet sessions are available on 7th, 8th, 12th, 14th & 15th December from 2pm-3pm. No bookings required, but find more information on Santa photos and Sanctuary Cove’s other Christmas activities here.
Where: Masthead Way, Sanctuary Cove

HOTA, Home of the Arts
HOTA is going all out this festive season with a 12 day Sprinkling of Christmas. With activities to delight all ages, photos with Santa, movies and theatre shows, HOTA is your destination for family fun. Santa photo packages start at $20 and are available daily from Tuesday 10th – Sunday 21st December from 9am-1pm. Book here.
Where: 135 Bundall Rd, Surfers Paradise

Stockland Burleigh Heads
Get your portraits taken at Stocklands Burleigh Heads from Saturday 2nd December until Christmas Eve. There’ll be times for Paws & Claus, Sensory Santa and even traditional Santa photos. Santa photos available from Saturday 30th November until Christmas Eve. You can book online here.
Where: Santa’s Beach Shack, outside Aldi, West Burleigh Rd, Burleigh Heads

Gold Coast Santa Beach Photos
Gold Coast Santa Photo Sessions are 5-10 minutes per shoot with Santa, your family and your pets! Depending on your session you will receive 4-10 high resolution digital images per session. Please read the full terms and conditions before booking. Available on various dates from November 9th on the beach at Main Beach, Miami and Currumbin. These photo shoots are super popular. You also have the option to Grinchify your photo package (not for the faint hearted)!  You can book your Santa Beach photo here.

Westfield Coomera
Tis’ the season to be making magical memories. Create a Christmas memory and book your photo with Santa at Westfield Coomera from Sunday 10th November until Christmas Eve. This year, Westfield is offering a range of photography sessions to suit everyone, including Sensitive Santa, My First Christmas, Pet photography and Auslan Santa. You can book online here.
Where: 103 Foxwell Rd, Coomera

Get ready to jingle your way from Coomera to Coolangatta and all the way till Christmas with the City of Gold Coast’s lineup of dashing festive events. Then, a host of spectacular New Year’s Eve events to back it up!

Here’s where you can get amongst allll the advent action on the Coast this year. Ho ho hope you can make it.

Mayor’s Christmas Carols
Is there anything more spirit-lifting than singing along to your favourite Christmas classics, being performed live under a blanket of stars- we don’t think so! One fine place to do just that is at the Mayor’s Christmas Carols at HOTA. Get ready for an incredible lineup of artists, kid’s shows, and a special visit from Santa himself! To top it all off, breathtaking fireworks to close out an epic evening of hard-core carolling. 
Where: HOTA Outdoor Stage,135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise
When: Saturday 30 November 2024. Gates open at 4pm.

Cooly Carols
Don’t say you’ve never experienced THE Cooly Carols?! One of the jolliest Christmas carol extravaganzas on the Coast?! It has families dashing from all distances to experience its legendary spectacle held at Queen Elizabeth Park. Enjoy an array of fabulous festivities, from live performances of your most-loved Christmas carols, a delicious assortment of sweet and savoury food trucks, and a dazzling fireworks display.
Where: Queen Elizabeth Park, 60 Marine Parade, Coolangatta
When: Sunday 8 December, 5.30pm – 7.30pm

Carols in Coomera
If you’re not a northern Gold Coast resident, don’t let that stop you from heading a little further up to experience the delightful Carols in Coomera. Be serenaded by the quintessential sounds of Christmas- we’re crossing our fingers for a fat dose of Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey. Get the gang together for a fabulous night of Noel!
Where: Coomera Sports Park, 53 Beattie Rd, Coomera
When: Saturday 14 December, 4.30pm – 6.30pm

Carols on the Beach
You can’t get it more Gold Coast than shouting the lyrics to “Last Christmas” (WHAM version) in your sandals on the shores of Surfers Paradise. Sounds like a recipe for a damn good time if you ask us. Carols on the Beach is a free and family-fun-packed event featuring a soon-to-be-announced lineup of special guest performances. Also, Santa has just announced he will be making one last special stop before his busy Christmas night! Will it be Carol’s on the Beach (psst, the answer is yes)?! Then, a firework finale to finish.
Where: Surfers Paradise Beach, Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradise
When: Sunday 15 December, 5.00pm – 8.00pm

Christmas in Broadbeach
Broadbeach Mall is gearing up for a unique Christmas transformation! Set your countdown calendar for December 14 for its grand reveal of the soon-to-be HQ of festive fun- all for our merrymaking pleasure. Think gingerbread decorating, Christmas crafts, storytime, and tons more free kids’ entertainment! Sounds like an ideal way to fill up the school holiday calendar with festive cheer!
Where: 75 Surf Parade, Broadbeach
When: Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 December 2024

New Year’s Eve
Say farewell to the holiday season, and ring in the brand new year with ‘a bang’ with everyone’s favourite time honoured NYE tradition… fireworks!

There’ll be a plethora of GC park part-ays where we can convene for ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ a plenty. Catch the various fireworks displays, with family friendly shows slated for Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise at 8pm, or Coolangatta at 9pm – before they all fire again for the big shebang as the clock officially strikes 12 on 2024.
Where: Fireworks: Kurrawa Beachfront, Broadbeach – 8pm & midnight, Kirra, Coolangatta – 9pm & midnight, Surfers Paradise Beach – 8pm & midnight. Community Celebration: Coomera Sports Park, Coomera – 5pm to 8pm.
When: Tuesday 31 December 2024

And that’s a wrap on another cracker season of fun-filled GC festivities for 2024, folks. Which is just as well – after all that we’ll need to channel our inner Dad à la Boxing Day and “rest our eyes” in front of the telly for wee bit.

Words by Chelsea Ipsen

STORY SPONSORED BY CITY OF GOLD COAST

Oh how we love playing dress ups and enjoying the finer things in life. The only thing more exciting than tea and scones at Buckingham Palace is tea and scones (and so much more varie-tea) at InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort’s mesmerising High Tea Immersion. Run ‘oolong’ on a Saturday and/or Sunday from 1pm – 4pm for this superior experience, which transforms high tea into a new immersive journey. How you ask? Make yourself a cuppa (obvs), get comfy and read on…

For the tea enthusiasts who appreciate a spot of name dropping, this will send your senses into overdrive. The exceptional menu, which we’ll unpack shortly, has been expertly crafted alongside the fine teamakers of Tea Forté. In case you’re not up to speed with tea hierarchy, these handcrafted luxury blends are the Margot Robbie of teas. Brew-tea-ful, award-winning, at the top of their game, and loved the world-over. And, to add a little more spesh factor, the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort is the first hotel in our sunburnt country to feature Tea Forté and cue the applause, coz this is quite the coup.

Bringing new innovative interpretations of their globally renowned tea flavours, Resort Executive Chef Hamish Watt and his team have been working overtime to create a High Tea menu to leaf you might-tea satisfied. Curated to guide each guest on an opulent culinary journey from arrival, imagine the VIP vibes when you’re greeted with a Tea Forté infused towel and a palate-cleansing iced tea piccolo. And, for an even more swish factor, opt for a choice of Champagnes and Wines or the signature ‘Pear-tea-ni’ Cocktail (SOLD!), infused with Tea Forté’s White Ginger Pear blend. Pretty sure this is our love language.

Served in the Cove Café, enjoy three tiers of sweet and savoury delights, each boasting unique flavour profiles of a contemporary artisanal brew and designed to pair perfectly with your beverage choice. Savoury lovers will go weak at the knees for the Spanner Crab with saffron mayonnaise and tobiko, Goats Labneh with oyster mushroom and melon radish, Slow-cooked 12-hour Toowoomba Beef Brisket Doughnut, and Smoked Tasmanian Salmon Mousse with fennel and cucumber. Sweet-a-holics will revel in the Salted Caramel Choux with orchid vanilla tea cream and caramel sauce, Coffee Chocolate Opera Cake with hazelnut cream and milk chocolate tuile, Berry Tart with ruby chocolate ganache and pistachio cream and last but not least, the Coconut and White Ginger Pear Tea Mousse with almond cream, apricot and white chocolate. Yep, we’ve got a toothache just thinking about it but #SoWorthIt.

There is an equally delightful spread for the vegan, nut-free, gluten-free and dairy-free folk, with the likes of Roast Pumpkin, Caraway Seed and Tomato Blini, Grilled Corn with beetroot escabeche and cucumber, Dark Chocolate Mousse with avocado and fresh raspberries, and Cinnamon-Spiced Banana Cake with lime and apricot cream. YUM!

And of course, a high tea just isn’t a high tea without Scones. We’re talking Classic Scones and Cranberry Scones and just give us ALL THE SCONES! Pair them with your choice of Tea Forté teas including English Breakfast, Orchid Vanilla, African Solstice, Chamomile Citron Green Mango Peach and White Ginger Pear, all presented with iconic Tea Forté flair.

So, stop pro-caffeine-ating and check out this high-roller High Tea Immersion before it’s scone….

For bookings, click here or phone (07) 5530 1234. The High Tea Immersion is $57 per person (without champagne), but you can upgrade to Bottomless Rosé (2 Hours) for $13 per person or upgrade to a Glass of Champagne for $17 per person!

Where: InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, Sanctuary Cove, Manor Circle, Hope Island
When: 1pm – 4pm Saturdays & Sundays

Words by Bianca Trathen.

STORY SPONSORED BY INTERCONTINENTAL SANCTUARY COVE RESORT