Gundaroo Soldiers Memorial Hall, NSW, Ngunnawal Country
Gundaroo Soldiers Memorial Hall stands on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal People.
Gundaroo is a small village outside Canberra, situated to the east of the Yass River in the Yass Valley Council region of the Southern Tablelands in New South Wales. Whilst the meaning of ‘Gundaroo’ isn’t entirely certain, it is believed to be a Ngunnawal word for the Yass River; another theory suggests “Blue crane” or “Big waterhole”.
The Gundaroo Soldiers Memorial Hall was built in 1890 and opened as the original Elite Roller Skating Rink. Over the 135 years since the ownership has passed from the Affleck family to Jessie Heath and then into community care via a public trustee in 1932, it is now proudly community-owned and managed by a volunteer committee.
Over the years, the Gundaroo community has used this space for fundraising events, parties, weddings, funerals, film nights, quiz nights, curry nights, and ANZAC commemorations. The Hall has changed and adapted with each new decade. Even the internal lighting has gone through several technological changes! In the early century, kerosene lamps and candles were used, followed by an acetylene gas mantle candelabra, and in the 1950s, electricity came to Gundaroo and the community celebrated with a grand ‘switching on’ ceremony.
The Hall was sadly neglected in the 1970s and suffered a slow decline in the early 1980s into degradation – however after a community wide consultation known as “Vision 2020” the role of the Hall was embraced and during the later half of the 1980s and into the 1990s the Hall underwent restoration and renovation with generous community support to become the thriving, vibrant community space we enjoy today. As local legends Mike and Janet Hayes described it in the popular ABC radio series, “The Prickle Farmer”, the Hall was a shelter from the harsh Australian wilderness and respite from the bureaucracy of the ACT.
The Gundaroo Soldiers Memorial Hall Committee proudly welcomes you to join them in continuing this journey of celebrating community, diversity and inclusion.
The festival bar will be proudly hosted by Gundaroo’s own Gundog Estate, featuring a selection of award-winning wines alongside a range of beers and non-alcoholic options.
Main Course ($25 per person)
Delicious slow cooked beef brisket or tasty mushroom brisket (vegetarian) on a Gundaroo-made roll with italian fennel slaw and spiced potato wedges (add your own mustard, tomato sauce, BBQ sauce or spicy hot sauce.
Dessert ($15 per person)
Pistachio almond flan using seasonal fruit and homemade vanilla bean ice-cream using Tilba milk.
Meals must be pre-booked and paid for by 9 April.
Email your order to info@gundaroohall.org.au
For any special dietary requirements please contact the Hall, and they will tell you if they can accommodate them.
Doors open at 6pm, Meals and Bar will be available.
Performances commence at 7:00PM
Festival of Small Halls returns to Gundaroo on Sunday, 12 April 2026 with
Tullara (AUS) and Joe H Henry (CAN).
You will be Welcomed to the evening by Tyronne Bell, a Ngunawal descendant who grew up in Yass, learning traditional culture from his father Don Bell. Since 1986 Tyronne has been involved in many Aboriginal cultural heritage surveys to protect and conserve Aboriginal culture and heritage. Tyronne’s passion for his local Aboriginal culture and heritage and his desire to share this knowledge with others led to the establishment of Thunderstone in July 2013, which went on to develop Dhawura Aboriginal Cultural Tours.
Opening the show will be Matt Richards!
Matt moved to Gundaroo in 2017, and played in the Gundaroo Emerging Musos competition in 2019 and at the Gundaroo Christmas Festival in 2022 & 2023. He had been noodling with guitar and piano since high school and completed a Diploma of Voice at the ANU School of Music in 2018. He discovered the Mandocello in the early 1990s: a guitar-sized bass Mandolin, and Matt uses the Irish Bouzouki tuning GDAD. He has played in a few gigs at a wide variety of venues over the years, such as the Multicultural Festival in Canberra, The ANU and also at The Pot Belly.
Tickets are priced at:
Full Admission – $35
Concession Admission (Seniors, Students) – $25
Doors Open 6.00pm
Show Starts 7.00pm
Gundaroo Soldiers Memorial Hall has accessible entry and has accessible bathrooms (outside toilet block, with extra large cubicle for wheelchair access, approached via a ramp).
