The Black Wreath in Alice Springs has raised the $1 million it needed to buy its building, hitting the target on 11 September with 36 hours still to run on the Pozible campaign. Pledges have since passed $1.1 million.
The building goes into a trust, held in perpetuity, which takes the venue out of the rental market for good. Pirate started The Black Wreath in 2011 as a label and promotion outfit for Central Australian artists, and it now runs gigs, workshops, rehearsal space and a recording studio, as well as Blacken Open Air, the Territory’s three day rock and metal festival, which returns for its tenth edition in late April 2027. The owners of the property announced in 2025 that they were selling, which is what started the campaign.
Blacken Forever, the national fundraiser with more than 30 bands playing simultaneously in Alice Springs, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth on 12 September, became a celebration instead of a last push.
A community that tiny, raised more than a million dollars in a month to buy a building, and the trust structure means no future owner can take the decision away from them. It is the same exposure facing venues in every capital, where the operator builds the audience, the reputation and the fit out while someone else owns the appreciating asset.
