Looking for a unique function venue…. think outside the square…

Bicentenial Centre in Queanbeyan. Far better than anything Canberra has to offer.

Hey I am having a renewal in march, and we are looking at the Green herring restuarant as its close to our ceremony venue. Athenian club handles big nos, same with old parliament house.
Hotel wise I look at the clifton suites on northbourne.
bridesdiary.com.au is a good site.
Im stuck as I only have 50 guests and all the bigger hotels want 70 or more

the casino? they let you bring in food etc and is a bit different.. like if you hold it in the night club section… they also let us use it for free for a fundraising night…

Yowani Country Club is a great venue, just used it recently. Not expensive and the food is fantastic, staff are excellent and friendly and i would use that venue again.

No wait that’s right – the ACT Government has been letting that fall apart so it won’t get heritage listing and they can sell off the land under it for an aged care home.

Indeed, Mr Stanhope and his ilk really don’t seem to care for heritage sites. Take the Tharwa bridge for instance which seemed to take an age to get any respose whatsoever. It’s sad to see money being wasted on ridiculous pieces of public art when historic buildings as such are rapidly deteriorating.

Remember, once they are gone, you can’t get them back.

You could try the historic Gold Creek Homestead.

…No wait that’s right – the ACT Government has been letting that fall apart so it won’t get heritage listing and they can sell off the land under it for an aged care home.

caf said :

The Hall at University House.

Second this, it is a nice venue.

Try Questacon, they used to do a good line in evening functions when i used to work there. The guests could also wonder the galleries at their leisure playing with the exhibits. It’s certainly ‘out of the box’.

Its probably considered a ‘usual suspect’ but the Southern Cross Club at Woden has a great new events centre. Really nice inside. The food was good when I was there too, better than the bistro for sure.

Try the High Court, they have the great hall, been a few times for a fuction and it is a great place, they even put on security for you. I just rang my friend and they said to call Joe or Michael on 62706850.

I would suggest a public place, get the permits, and a decent organiser (of things like this). Make sure there is enough flat (level) space to fit the 30 odd tables you will need.
Also, a warning about thinking “outside the box”, make sure a majority of those coming will understand at least the stuff “in the box”. I have run two functions in the middle of northbourne ave, one a success, one, not so much, many folk who “just didn’t get it”.
Try weston park, would not suggest it for a wedding (bad experience in the marriage) but good space

Yarralumla Woolshed should cope with the numbers, and you can BYO caterer.
CIT auditoriums can be hired for events and could do those numbers, although their rent has gone up recently it may still be on the budget end of the scale.
Or you could pick a nice setting (Botanic Gardens, park etc) and get permits to have Kennards put a marquee up for the night.

In the past year or so I have been a guest at a number of larger functions (I couldn’t be sure that there were more than 300 people there, but they were pretty big). A ball held in the “G for George” gallery at the War Memorial was most memorable, a fundraiser at Albert Hall was also good and a dinner held under the stars at Lanyon Homestead was also memorable.

300-350 is a pretty big number of people though. You might be limited in where you can squeeze that sort of crowd in.

Crowds – the wineries take reasonable crowds. The crows come along the next day and pick over the left-overs. Must have coffee.

Gold Creek has a function room; never used it though.
The Kamberry Wine place on the Federal Highway
Try the wineries. There’s two that take a reasonable crows – Madews and another one near Wamboin (can’t remember the name)
Birragai used to take casual bookings.

What sort of event is this? Would Yarralumla woolshed be suitable?

The Canberra Stadium has a number of available rooms that will cater for groups between 96 and 480 in size.

http://www.canberrastadium.com/functions/west_lounge.php

The Hall at University House.

AIS Arena?
(The basketball court)

Royal Canberra Golf Club?
(Dunno if that could deal with 350-odd people though)

Audi Centre Canberra?
(I’m sure of you made it worth their while a few car showrooms would have the space for the numbers you need)

A cinema or auditorium – Llewellyn Hall/Dendy etc?
(Sure, might dictate the type of “sit down” food you can have, but it could work)

Manuka Oval?
(Pretty sure they would have a suitably sized function space)

What time of year do you propose to host this shindig (ie. would an outside/marquee venue be suitable)?

Not sure of how many they can seat, but Manuka Oval has a great function room at the top of the stands. I used it for a weekend event, and was able to bring my own catering in, but that may no longer be possible, though worth asking. Would suggest Albert Hall, but not sure that all is well there.

In terms of finding something unusual, perhaps you need to focus on how you decorate a venue to create something special?

If you’re looking for a good caterer, I highly recommend Nibblez in Fyshwick.

Bruce Staduim? EPIC?

The problem is that most places big enough to host 300+ will already have their own commercial kitchens with their own caterers……