At Least Once a Week · 7–9pm · Free Entry
Live at Aranya
Small rooms make better nights. Jazz, folk and acoustic sets in a dining room that seats seventy, half an hour from Canberra.
The Idea
Close enough to watch the fingers move
The dining room under the tin roof seats seventy. That is not a lot of seats, and it is deliberately not a lot of seats — a duo or a trio playing to seventy people sounds like something a stage and a PA can only imitate. Nobody is talking over the band from the far end of a beer garden, because there is no far end.
Entry is free. You book a table, you eat Chef Praneel’s native menu, you drink Canberra District wine off an ever-changing cellar list, and the music happens in the room while you do it. Most nights run 7–9pm, at least once a week, usually Friday.
Two Strands
Jazz Noir & Live at Aranya
Friday Nights · 7–9pm
Jazz Noir
The Friday series. Gypsy jazz and traditional jazz, mostly duos and trios — the Black Owl Duet playing Django-style hot club swing on duelling guitars, Simon’s Jazz Trio on piano, double bass and drums. Dress to impress, if that is your thing.
Through the Season
Live at Aranya
The wider series — folk, acoustic and everything that is not quite jazz. Recent nights have run from Irish and Scottish traditional through Brittany, Galicia and Klezmer, played by musicians who trained classically and then went somewhere more interesting with it.
Eating & Drinking
The kitchen runs right through
The full à la carte is available all evening — lemon myrtle, wattleseed, finger lime and Dorrigo pepper, native ingredients through a kitchen with a multicultural backbone. Vegan and vegetarian are standard rather than an afterthought.
Behind the bar, the Sub Zero Native Series cocktails and an ever-changing cellar list that starts with the Sapling Yard wines made downstairs and widens out across the Canberra District — Poacher’s Pantry, Surveyor’s Hill, Pankhurst and Sassafras among them.
Booking
Seats Go Early
Seventy seats in the room, and music nights fill faster than most. Book online for the night you want, or call and we will sort it out over the phone.
Getting Here
Half an Hour Out
810 Norton Road, Wamboin NSW 2620 — 30 minutes from Canberra CBD, 15 from Bungendore. Free parking on site, and the entrance, seating and toilets are wheelchair accessible.
Before You Come
Live Music Questions
When is live music on at Aranya Acres?
At least once a week, usually Friday nights from 7pm. The Jazz Noir series runs on Fridays, and the Live at Aranya series brings in folk and acoustic acts. Every confirmed date is on the What’s On calendar.
Does it cost anything to come?
Entry is free. You are booking a table for dinner, and the music comes with it.
Do I need to book?
Bookings are recommended, and for some nights essential — the dining room is small, which is the point, but it does mean seats go. Book online through our Toast page or call 0481 911 122.
Where do the musicians play?
In the dining room under the tin roof, which seats 70. Close enough to watch the fingers move, as we keep saying about it.
Is the kitchen open during live music?
Yes. The full à la carte menu runs through the evening, along with the Sub Zero Native Series cocktails and an ever-changing Canberra District cellar list.
What kind of music do you book?
Mostly acoustic and jazz — gypsy jazz, traditional jazz trios, Celtic and European folk. Local players, small line-ups, no backing tracks.
Where is Aranya Acres?
810 Norton Road, Wamboin NSW 2620 — 30 minutes from Canberra CBD, 15 minutes from Bungendore and about 20 from Queanbeyan. Parking is free and on site.