The Black Wreath is at a crossroads. After a decade of community building, our venue in the desert of central Australia is about to be sold from right underneath us. We're calling on our community to help us save the venue, and join us on a journey like no other!

For aspiring musicians growing up in Alice Springs, opportunities were dismal, particularaly for heavy bands: no studios, no rehearsal rooms, no dedicated music venues and touring bands very rarely visited. After years of playing in bands and then seeing a younger generation follow the same dead-end trajectory,  we decided to do something about it. In mid-2011, we formed a collective known as The Black Wreath. We built a backyard studio, recorded a first compilation EP and released it on our label of the same name. The official launch happened on 11.11.11, when we live broadcast our gig to venues all around Australia. This was our first step towards creating a platform for remote artists to reach a national audience.

The next goal was making Alice a viable touring destination for artists: Blacken The Globe kicked off in 2013 as a single-day event that followed the live stream format. It took us another six years of building the festival's profile before we moved it to its current home at Ross River Resort, establishing Australia's first heavy music campout festival. The multi-day format, set in the stunning natural amphitheater was the vision that enticed interstate travelers to head out here. It's been slow and steady, but the country is taking notice and interstate attendees now outnumber locals. We now attract bands and visitors from around the world.

In 2017, we moved our backyard studio into the industrial precinct in town, making it available to the wider community. Transforming this rundown warehouse space has been a decade-long project and The Black Wreath HQ has become the creative and cultural heart of central Australia. It offers everything we missed out on growing up here: rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, indoor and outdoor stages etc. It's a lifeline for the most remote artists in the country and a bridge to the big wide world. In 2025, we hosted over 400 artists here from 10 different countries and toured regional artists all around Australia. Our Blacken Open Air and Shadow of Uluru events were a monumental milestone and a testament to everything we have achieved so far. The Black Wreath now supports a thriving industry, but it's a constant uphill battle against the challenges of our location and isolation. 

Problem: The Black Wreath in danger of shutting down. So last year, right after Blacken, the landlords called to notify us the owners want to sell the property. This was a sudden shock to the community, following such a big achievement. We've been working on a plan to save it ever since. A few years ago there was a story about a little old venue called The Tote. Inspired by that massive community achievement, we're about to do something similar for The Black Wreath.

With such a small population, we lack the numbers to raise that kind of money locally. The venue is the lifeblood of the desert, but it's a challenge to translate its importance to people who don't live here. Thankfully, people across Australia care a lot about Blacken Open Air. So our task is to raise money using the festival's platform and ask our friends to support us by raising awareness as we try to reach the public.

Solution: This is what the plan looks like: We're running a five-week online fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise 1.2 million AUD to purchase the studio, place it in a trust and safeguard it for future generations. We will do this by pre-selling tickets to the ECLIPSE trilogy of upcoming Blacken festivals: SOLAR (ten year anniversary at Ross River Resort, May 2027), LUNAR (taking Blacken to Victoria for the first time, Dec 2027) and ECLIPSE (coinciding with the Great Australasian total solar Eclipse, in July 2028)

Alongside this, we are offering lifetime memberships and exclusive merchandise, including limited-pressing vinyl records of Blacken Open Air and Earthless at Uluru. If we sell 1,000 of these packages at $1,000 each, we will reach our goal. We have the support of artists all around Australia, who will be performing simultaneously on the same date: Saturday September 12, 2026. This is the final day of the fundraising drive and will hopefully end with a massive party right across the country. It's a huge task, but I really believe we can do it as we have a beautiful and passionate community behind us.

The asking price for the building is 1.2 million. 

If we raise the first goal of one million, we will deliver three life-changing festivals. That's what we do best! We will deliver all the rewards as first priority. The rest of the money will go toward the venue purchase, and we will beg, steal and borrow to make up the deficit.

Ultimate goal: If we raise 1.5 million, we will purchase the building outright, and the money generated from neighbouring tenancies will go directly into supporting artsits touring to and from Central Australia, until the end of time!