21st Birthday Party Canberra

A 21st usually draws a wider crowd than an 18th – uni friends, workmates and grandparents – so the room has to cope with mixed ages and a round of speeches. Around the ACT the choice falls into three groups: cocktail bars in Civic, function rooms from Braddon to the outer districts and Queanbeyan, and a charter on the lake.

How those options compare:

• Civic's cocktail bars hire private rooms inside larger venues – one has a vault-style space for 55 from $85 per person, another a leafy first-floor room for 40 to 100.
• Down in Tuggeranong, a timber-and-iron party shed at Gilmore has pool tables, a stage for a DJ and its own bar for up to 100 guests.
• Across in Queanbeyan, a hotel events floor with three private rooms and a rooftop terrace starts at $37 per person.
• On Northbourne Avenue in Braddon, a blank-canvas space with a courtyard is yours alone from $750 room hire, for up to 150 guests.
• In Gungahlin, a Crace restaurant takes 21sts on function packages from $50 per person.
• A party boat with two decks and room for 35 can be chartered privately from Kingston for a night on the lake.

Ask each venue how speeches work – a microphone, a quiet moment, a set time – because a 21st almost always has them. More rooms are on birthday party venues, and music on DJs.