After the QBA announced last year that, despite exhaustive efforts, they were unable to secure dates in February 2026 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC), the ABF explored the possibility of holding Australia’s most popular congress in January instead.

Although the GCCEC initially suggested that dates in late January might be available, it became clear that only mid-January dates were on offer — and that securing them would require a significant commitment to food and beverage spending. We carefully considered all the challenges this presented and believed that we could overcome nearly all of them.

However, in the end, it was accommodation availability and pricing that led us to decide not to proceed. Sue Smith, this year’s GCC accommodation manager, investigated the situation on our behalf and found that not only would accommodation on the Gold Coast be approximately 50% more expensive that week compared to February, but availability was also very limited. There were not enough apartments in Broadbeach to accommodate our staff — let alone provide options for players.

One final attempt was made to secure alternative dates at the GCCEC, but we were advised that no availability existed for any other time of the year.
As the QBA announced last year, they will be taking a break in 2026 and are planning to run an alternative event in Queensland in 2027.

The ABF would like to thank everyone who supported our efforts to make the event possible, including many bridge players from the Gold Coast region.

We hope that those of you still interested in attending a bridge event next summer will consider either the Summer Festival in Canberra in January or the Tasmanian Festival of Bridge in March.

Posted in Latest News on April 29, 2025