Business Events at Brown’s Mart
12 Smith Street, Darwin City, Northern Territory
Bring people together in one of Darwin’s Oldest Buildings
DEDICATED BUSINESS EVENT CONTACT
Francesca Sculli
Venue Hire Manager
08 8981 5522
The team can be available for site inspections
WHY BROWN’S MART IS PERFECT FOR BUSINESS EVENTS
Flexible, purpose built facility with, friendly team ready to help you bring people together
With retractable tiered seating, meeting spaces, and air-conditioned rooms, the venue is fully equipped to host conferences, presentations, workshops, and performances with ease.
Historic Charm in a Central Location
Housed in one of Darwin’s oldest limestone buildings, Brown’s Mart offers a unique blend of heritage character and cultural significance; right in the heart of the city.
Community Focused, Creative Atmosphere
Rooted in the local arts scene and community engagement, Brown’s Mart provides an inspiring environment that elevates any event; perfect for teams seeking a dynamic, memorable, authentic creative edge.
ABOUT BROWN’S MART
Standing on Larrakia land as the Home of Territory Performing Arts, Brown’s Mart delivers a year-round arts program centred in collaboration, innovation and energy.
In and beyond our multiple performance spaces we create and present contemporary performance works which engage with many communities and art forms. We champion new work and new voices from the Northern Territory through residencies, creative developments and presentations, and have done since 1972. Just as this legacy continues, so does Brown’s Mart’s commitment to our artists, our audiences, and our community.
Hiring Brown’s Mart (a registered Charity) assists with funding the creation of new performance here in the Northern Territory, making sure that local stories and voices can reach the stage here and beyond. Your booking directly supports the Northern Territory Creative Industries.
OUR HISTORY
Brown’s Mart stands on Larrakia land and dates back to 1885, originally built from local stone by Vaiben Louis Solomon and known as “Solomon’s Mart.” In 1887, Victor Vowles Brown took over, and the building became known as Brown’s Mart. Over the years, it housed various commercial tenants, was damaged by the 1897 cyclone, used by the armed forces in WWII, and later occupied by government offices.
Its transformation into a community theatre began in the 1970s, led by the Darwin Theatre Group. In 1971, a Board of Trustees was appointed, and the Mart hosted its first rehearsals and performances in 1972. After Cyclone Tracy, restoration was funded by the Darwin Reconstruction Commission and a National Estate grant, with performances resuming in 1976.
Subsequent developments included an administration block (1977), retractable seating (1978), and the formation of Brown’s Mart Community Arts Project Inc. (1979). In 1985, the venue expanded with a land gift from Darwin City Council, and by 1995 the courtyard was upgraded to support outdoor events.
PRICING & TIMELINES
Hire of Brown’s Mart is incredibly affordable starting from $900+ GST for a 2-3 hour booking of the Theatre and Studio however pricing is tailored to your needs and resources. This includes offering Community pricing for Non For Profit and Indepenednet groups.
Booking requests are preferably made at least a month in advance in order to not only prepare the space and assure the correct equipment is available, this gives the team adequet time to liase staffing and any other hirers of the space. The more lead in time the more our knowledgeable friendly team can help with problem solving and tailoring the experience
LOCATION
Find us housed beside Civic Park in Darwin City, perfectly located between venues such as the Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin Convention Centre and Darwin Innovation Hub.
12 Smith Street, Darwin City, Northern Territory, Australia 0800
Accessibility
VENUE OVERVIEW
Brown’s Mart has 4 different spaces available for hire, you can book them individually or take over the entire venue. Each area is flexible in terms of the seating arrangements and functionaly of the space.
Recent events that we’ve hosted:
- Tourism Top End general Meeting
- Creative Australia Information Session
- Darwin Festival Industry Connect launch
- Battle of the Legal Bands - full venue takeover
See further details about the individual spaces below.
TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT
A purpose built facilitity, we can also help you set up wherever you are through our equipment hire program. With onsite reliable Wi-Fi, video conferencing capabilities and seamless integration with technology we can also provide you with technician support. Need equipment for another venue? CLICK HERE for Equipment Hire pricing.
CATERING & DRINK PACKAGES
Brown’s Mart hosts a classic wine and beer bar with an intimate but delicious array of drinks including but not limited to selling select cans from the local One Mile Brewery.
- Bar tabs are easy to organise
- Pre-purchased drinks are possible
- Friendly bar staff available to serve
Brown’s Mart does not offer in-house catering however we regularly work with a variety of local Northern Territortian catering companies so you’re able to pick the option that compliments your event and is tailored to any dietary requirments. Some of of the independent businesses we work with include but are not limited to:
HONORARY ELDER IN RESIDENCE
Brown’s Mart Honorary Elder in Residence Uncle Richard Fejo can be coordinated for Welcome to Countries before your event. Got another Elder in mind or someone you’re already working with? Not to worry you’re more than welcome to engage someone else. Dr. Richard “Richie” Fejo is a Larrakia Man from Darwin from his father, his grandfather and his great grandfather in what culture calls “Grandfather lore”. Richard is also Warumungu from Tennant Creek on his mother’s side and holds a great amount of cultural knowledge and experiences from both northern and Central Australia across the Northern Territory.
TRANSPORT
Located in the heart of Darwin City, transport to and from Brown’s Mart is simple with:
- Positioned on the same road as the bus interchange
- Has service lanes on both sides of the venue for easy ride share and taxi access
- Bus tours depart across the road
- E-scooter area
- Walking distance to Smith Street Mall and a range of Business Event locations
BRANDING AND EVENT TAKE OVERS
There are a range of print and digital branding options across the venue from an LED screen to inbuilt poster infrastructure and A-Frames that can be lent to you for your event.
CREATIVE ACTIVITIES & OPPORTUNITIES
Brown’s Mart has access to a large list of creatives who we can recommend for a range of needs from performances to activity facilitation, workshops and dynamic, exciting team building.
As the home of Territory Performing arts the venue is activated more than 150 days of the year with different events and shows. Booking your event when one of our main stage theatre shows is on? We’re able to offer discounts, allowing you to provide an exciting night out to attendees. If another hire is being presented then we can help connect you to try organise discounted tickets for a bespoke experience. We are eager to collaborate with you in a number of ways to create additional adventures for attendees.
DEDICATED BUSINESS EVENT CONTACT
Francesca Sculli
Venue Hire Manager
08 8981 5522
The team can be available for site inspections