A festival does not have to occupy the whole holiday. With Groundwater, the pleasure can be in choosing a little of it: an artist you wanted to hear, a meal in Broadbeach, then another performance if the afternoon is going well. Free entry leaves that decision open.
The 16–18 October 2026 edition has ended, after a cheerful weekend of country music around Broadbeach. Its appeal was as much in the setting as the bill. Streets, parks and local venues became places to stop and listen, without committing every hour of the day to one arena.
Stay for the music that catches your attention
A short list of performances is a useful beginning. Read the programme when it arrives, choose the acts that interest you and leave enough time between them to eat or wander. You may find that one afternoon gives you everything you wanted from the festival.
Contessa lets the accommodation have its own place in that plan. On the river side of Main Beach, its gardens and marina offer somewhere to spend the hours before and after an outing. Tedder Avenue is five minutes away on foot for a coffee before heading south or a table close to home later.
For a couple sharing a longer stay, there is room to make different choices on different days. One can belong to Broadbeach, another to the beach across the road, with time at the residence left open. The large indoor heated pool and the outdoor pool among the gardens give an afternoon close by its own possibilities.
The festival organisers have confirmed an October 2027 return. The specific dates are due early in the new year, and the next artists and performances are still being arranged. Until those announcements arrive, keep any favourite 2026 set as a memory rather than a promise of who will play again.
Leave the evening unhurried
Coming home from music does not always mean wanting another reservation. A Contessa apartment has a kitchen, dining space and balcony, so dinner can be something you put together when you are ready. Two bathrooms and a laundry make the practical side of a longer visit easy to manage as well.
Look through the individual residences when choosing one. Each is shown by apartment number, with photographs of its own rooms and outlook. Some face towards the ocean or city; others look over river, marina, gardens or pool. Choose the setting you would enjoy even on a day when you never reach the festival.
There are two acres of landscaped grounds to return to, an indoor and an outdoor spa, a sauna and a tennis court. The marina gives the river side its particular character. Those details matter when the trip includes several nights and only a few hours of music.
The journey to Broadbeach deserves a little thought once the stage map is published. Contessa’s nearest light rail stop is roughly a fifteen-minute walk away, followed by a southbound service. Match the onward walk and the return timetable to the performances you select. You can leave a car in the complimentary basement parking without reserving a bay.
See which Contessa apartment suits your stay, then let the Groundwater programme decide the musical part when it is released. An afternoon worth hearing, followed by an evening you can take slowly, is enough to build a visit around.