The rooms in Australia
Adelaide Festival Centre
John Morphett's 1973 white-tetrahedron roof on the Torrens, the southern hemisphere's first multi-venue arts complex. Sister sculpture to Sydney's sails. Anchor of WOMADelaide each March.
Bluesfest Byron Bay
Easter-weekend festival on the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, 11 km north of Byron Bay. Six big-top tents in rolling pasture, Pacific paddock-away.
City Recital Hall
1999 chamber shoebox tucked into Angel Place between two skyscrapers. The only purpose-built concert venue in Sydney since the Opera House. Australian Brandenburg Orchestra home.
Dark Mofo (MONA Hobart)
Two-week midwinter festival at David Walsh's MONA museum, June each year. Subterranean Berriedale gallery becomes the engine room for ritualised noise, fire, and ceremonial swimming.
Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne)
Melbourne's concert hall on the Yarra, opened in 1982 as the Melbourne Concert Hall and renamed Hamer Hall in 2004. Rebuilt inside and reopened in July 2012. Up to 2,464 seats.
Melbourne Recital Centre
ARM Architecture's 1,000-seat shoebox in Southbank, opened 2009. Plywood tree-bark interior, Arup-tuned acoustics.
Northcote Social Club
250-cap pressed-tin-ceiling bandroom in the back of an 1854 hotel on High Street, Northcote. The prototypical Melbourne pub bandroom.
Perth Concert Hall
Howlett and Bailey's 1973 Brutalist concrete concert hall on St Georges Terrace, home to a Ronald Sharp pipe organ.
QPAC Concert Hall
Robin Gibson's 1985 modernist complex on the South Bank. 1,600-seat fan-shaped hall built around a 6,566-pipe Klais organ, the largest in Australia.
Rainbow Spirit Festival
Rainbow Spirit Festival, formerly Rainbow Serpent Festival, is an electronic music and arts festival founded in 1998 in Victoria, Australia. Renamed in July 2023.
Sydney Opera House
Jørn Utzon's billowing concrete sails on Bennelong Point, opened 1973.
Uluru (Anangu Country)
Uluru is a sacred sandstone monolith in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, on Anangu Country. A place to experience, not a bookable music venue.
WOMADelaide
Annual world-music festival in Botanic Park since 1992. Stages spread under 200-year-old Moreton Bay figs whose buttress roots make natural amphitheatres. Four days every March.
Planning a trip
Hearing music in Australia
The halls divide by purpose. Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney's City Recital Hall suit chamber music; Hamer Hall, at up to 2,464 seats, is the big symphonic room; QPAC in Brisbane has a 6,566-pipe organ at its centre. Northcote Social Club is a 250-capacity pub bandroom for emerging bands. Festivals range from WOMADelaide under fig trees to Dark Mofo's avant-garde nights. Uluru, on Anangu Country, has no stage or programme and public ceremonies are rare: visit at sunrise, speak quietly and read the Cultural Centre's advice first.
March is busy in Adelaide, with the Adelaide Festival in early March and WOMADelaide on the second weekend. Bluesfest runs over Easter weekend, Dark Mofo for two weeks around 21 June, Brisbane Festival in September and Melbourne Festival in October. Uluru is best from April to October. Two entries need checking first. Perth Concert Hall has been shut since 21 December 2024 for redevelopment and is due back in early 2028. Rainbow Spirit Festival returned in March 2026 after a break, and its 2027 edition moves to a new site, Colston Hill at Glenaroua, Victoria, from 5 to 8 March 2027, not Lexton.
Trains and trams do most of the work: Circular Quay for the Opera House, Wynyard or Martin Place for City Recital Hall, South Brisbane for QPAC and trams to the Melbourne venues. For Dark Mofo, fly to Hobart and board the MONA ferry at Brooke Street Pier. For Bluesfest, fly to Ballina (BNK). For Uluru, fly to Ayers Rock (AYQ), either direct or through Alice Springs.
FAQ
Questions people ask
When is WOMADelaide held?
WOMADelaide is held over four days every year in Botanic Park, Adelaide, on the second March weekend. Friday evening warms up, Saturday and Sunday carry the headliners and Monday closes things out slowly. Gates open at 12:00 and music runs to 23:00.
Is Perth Concert Hall open?
No. Perth Concert Hall has been closed since 21 December 2024 while it is redeveloped, and the plan is to reopen it in early 2028. Nothing can be visited before then, and the Western Australian Government publishes a redevelopment page that tracks progress.
How do you get to the Sydney Opera House by public transport?
Take a train to Circular Quay and walk two minutes east. Walking from the city centre takes fifteen minutes, crossing the Royal Botanic Garden. Sydney Airport has a 25-minute train link to Circular Quay.