Events

Smith’s Alternative is a licensed venue. Persons under 18 must be under the responsible supervision of their parent or legal guardian.

We are open from midday until at least 9.30pm every day, later when there’s a late show on. Check the Calendar for details.

Shows at Smith’s follow a fairly regular pattern, but we’re flexible, so please contact us with your ideas. 

Mondays

Monday early evenings (7-9pm) are in most part reserved for poetry, with a team of local poets putting on a variety of shows each week under the banner of That Poetry Thing That Is On At Smith’s Every Week. Most events begin with an open mic so bring your poems along to share.

Tuesdays

On Tuesdays there’s mostly just one show in an earlier timeslot (7-9ish). We regularly run the Bang!! Beng!! Bing!! Bong!! Bung!! an open mic for singer-songwriters,

Wednesday- Friday

We like to run two shows each night, 6.30-8.30pm and 9.30-11.30pm. All types of performance are welcome.  

Saturdays

There are usually three shows on Saturdays; 3-5pm, 6-8pm and 9-11pm. There are also opportunities for shows after midnight.

Sundays

We regularly host open jams from 11am-3pm.

Sunday late afternoons (4-6pm) and evenings (7-9pm) are open to any genre. 

Other

Other regular events include Lunchulele, a beginner level uke/singing group (12.30-1.30pm Monday), and Smith’s Scribblers life drawing (12.30-1.30pm Thursday and Friday). There are open jams from 4-6pm on Mondays (European~), Wednesdays (Old-Timey and Manouche), Thursdays (Pop/Folk/Rock), and Sundays (5-7pm, Improvisational).

Smith’s also hosts book launches, workshops, talks, presentations, panels and we are keen to have more weekday events at lunch times.

Let us know what you’ve got to share.