Everything for Birthday Parties
Compare suppliers on Party Hero ready to help plan your birthday party, then enquire direct – free.
A birthday in Wollongong can be a Saturday of barefoot bowls by the sea, a dinner on the harbour or a dance floor in a club function room, and the age on the cake usually decides which. Start with the guest list: a night for friends and a lunch for three generations of family need very different rooms, even when the budget is the same.
Friends-led parties often begin with something to do – a coached tournament at Battle Axe Throwing on Crown Street, escape rooms and a hidden cocktail bar at Breakout Bar & Escape Rooms, or heats on the outdoor track at Wollongong Kart Raceway – then roll on to a pub function floor. Family birthdays tend to settle around a long table: seafood set menus at Harbourfront Seafood Restaurant, Italian share menus at Lu Mare, or a game on the green at Gerringong Bowlo followed by the bistro.
For a big milestone, exclusive-hire properties change the scale. Greyleigh is a 200-acre former dairy farm in the Kiama hinterland, and Anita's Theatre in Thirroul has an auditorium for up to 800 standing.
Where Wollongong birthday crowds tend to gather:
Planning a particular age? The 21st birthday party and 50th birthday party pages narrow these options down for those milestones.
A seated room with a set menu keeps everyone together. Harbourfront Seafood Restaurant takes sit-down functions for 20 to 150 with harbour views, Lu Mare seats up to 60 for Italian set menus, and Gerringong Bowlo lets the family play barefoot bowls before moving into the Werri Waves Bistro.
Yes. Smash Factor Indoor Golf & Bar and Hilda's Bar @ The Illawarra Hotel are both on Keira Street, so a group can play a round and then take over a private bar room. The Chalkboard Bus can also link an afternoon at Wollongong Kart Raceway or Resin Brewing with an evening venue.
The Iron Yampi in Port Kembla charges no room hire fees for functions, The Loft @ The Builders Club waives room hire for 50 or more guests, and the heated upstairs deck at Central Hotel Shellharbour has no room hire. Terrace Bar & Lounge @ Balgownie Hotel includes five hours of room hire at no charge.
It depends on the format. Barefoot bowls at Gerringong Bowlo is from $15 per person, and canapé packages at The Loft @ The Builders Club start from $25 per person. Private rooms often work on a minimum spend instead – Hilda's Bar @ The Illawarra Hotel is from $2,000 minimum spend and North Wollongong Hotel from $1,500 minimum spend.
AMPT DJ Australia, Showtime Photobooth & Event Hire, Go Hire The Event People and Mrs Gibbons Flowers all cover every Wollongong region, from Northern Wollongong down to Kiama & Gerringong. Bunches Balloon Boutique focuses on Shellharbour & Lake Illawarra and Kiama & Gerringong.
Ravensthorpe Estate in Albion Park is a restored 1890s homestead booked exclusively, with a pavilion for 50 to 200 guests and on-site accommodation for 14 in the Manor House, Stables and Bateman Cottage.
Q Strings plays pop songs and film themes on strings, Ellie Maye Belly Dance can do one feature spot or several short sets, and Circus Monoxide sends aerial, acrobatic and juggling acts. Ultimate DJs runs the dance floor from $800, and for younger guests Fairy Fantasy Parties hosts games and face painting from $190. All five travel to every Wollongong region.
