Hire
The premier entertainment venue in the iconic, seaside town of Southwold; presenting a year-round programme of events including music, theatre, film, lectures, educational talks and workshops. Southwold Arts Centre has a number of flexible spaces available for hire which are also suitable for wedding receptions, celebrations and live events.
The Venue plays host to Southwold Arts Festival (June), a summer repertory theatre season which has been an annual event for over 80 years (July - September), Ways With Words literary festival (November) and Southwold and Reydon Pantomime Group (January), to name but a few.
A wide selection of local societies use the facilities for talks and demonstrations including Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Southwold Arts Society. We have a range of capacities for lectures, including a projector and HDMI input, and lapel / headset radio mics for use.
There are a number of rooms available to hire for live events, meetings, family celebrations and exhibition space.
The Centre is operated by Sole Bay Arts C.I.O., a charity which aims to enhance the arts, cultural and heritage experience of the local community, and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time.
Our facilities
Our theatre hall is a flexible multi-purpose entertainment space offering:
- Cinema style cushioned raked seating and a further seating arrangements on the flat of the hall.
- Large performance stage which is 5 metres wide and 5 metres deep and benefits from centrally rigged lighting and high-quality acoustics and sound systems.
- A professional high lumens daylight projector and .... wide retractable screen which provides an incredible presentation and cinematic experience.
- A flexible ‘floor space’ which can be configured with circular group tables, rectangular tables or simply additional rows of seating.
- 3 changing rooms and performer toilets
- A fully-equipped catering kitchen with serving hatch
- A café / refreshment area
- A bar stocked with local produce
- A compact outdoor seating area.
For info on hiring or programming for music and live events, please email info@southwoldartscentre.co.uk. Please note for music events we operate only on box office splits.
The foyer
Our foyer area includes 2 rooms each fitted with a bar and comfortable seating. They are an ideal area for craft displays, informal spaces for coffee mornings, book groups and small social gatherings.
The Doris Hatfield Room
A recently renovated co-working space in the heart of Southwold is available to hire. This includes the use of a small, well-equipped kitchen, free high-speed internet, plug sockets and 8 individual desks, a brilliant space for personal meetings and work-from-home set-ups.
The space can also be hired as a space for educational classes and workshops, if suitable.
For all hiring and co-working enquiries, please contact info@southwoldartscentre.co.uk.
