The family of Gold Coast magician Daniel Hidden has spoken publicly for the first time about his remarkable life, gathering with more than 70 friends and relatives to celebrate the 26-year-old and scatter his ashes at the places he loved most.

The celebration of life was held at Hidden's parents' Gold Coast home on Saturday, with a further 30 mourners joining the service online from Iran, Canada and Germany. The family had previously farewelled him at a vigil on July 7.

Hidden died from hypothermia after breaking his hip in a fall during a solo hike at Cougal Cascades. A ten-day search involving police, SES volunteers, Australian Defence Force personnel and specialist rescue crews ended in tragedy when his body was discovered in the dense surrounding bushland.

Ashes scattered at Daniel Hidden's favourite spots

The day after the celebration, Hidden's parents — Faranak Tohidi and Hojjat Jamshidi — returned with family to Cougal Cascades to scatter some of his ashes at the first waterfall along the popular hinterland walking track. Steep terrain prevented the group from reaching the exact site where Hidden died, but the waterfall held deep meaning for the family regardless.

The location reminded Hidden of Mount Tochal in Iran, where he had spent countless hours hiking with friends as a child. The mountain's coordinates were even tattooed on his finger — a permanent tribute to a place that had shaped him. He had expressed a wish for his ashes to be divided between Cougal Cascades and Mount Tochal, but that wish remains unfulfilled. Tohidi's brother was unable to travel from Iran to attend the funeral and carry some of the ashes home, despite the family's efforts and the provision of supporting letters.

The family wore matching shirts bearing Hidden's personal motto — Seeing is Believing — as they gathered at the waterfall. They also created a memorial filled with photographs, candles, flowers and playing cards in his honour.

The group later made their way to The Spit, a narrow strip of sand at the northern end of Main Beach, which Hidden had affectionately called his "office." It was there that he would sit with his laptop, planning new shows and developing new illusions.

"When I asked him, 'Where were you?', he said, 'I come from office,'" Jamshidi recalled.

The recovery of Hidden's body had itself been an extraordinary undertaking. "They found him at 11am … and they brought him back at 11.15pm," his father said, underscoring the punishing difficulty of the terrain.

A childhood moment the family believes changed everything

Hidden's parents also shared a deeply personal story from his childhood that they believe was a turning point for the entire family.

When Daniel was just eight years old, doctors informed the family that there was no heartbeat detected during Tohidi's pregnancy and recommended a termination. The young boy refused to accept the news, insisting his unborn sibling was still alive.

Bleeding and in pain, Tohidi was being prepared for surgery when Hidden arrived at the hospital with his father. "He was crying so hard and said, 'No, my brother is alive,'" Jamshidi recalled. Despite medical warnings, the family chose not to proceed with the procedure.

His parents described the moment as Hidden's first miracle — a moment of unwavering belief that foreshadowed the sense of wonder he would later bring to audiences as a performer.

A life remembered

Before his death, Hidden had built a reputation as a talented and inventive magician on the Gold Coast. Friends and family remembered a young man as passionate about his craft as he was about the natural world — a combination that ultimately led him to the remote trails of the Gold Coast hinterland.

The family's farewell was both a celebration of that life and an acknowledgement of the pain left behind, with treasured photographs and never-before-shared family stories providing a window into the person Hidden had been long before he stepped onto any stage.