Thank you for visiting our website regarding venue hire. Millgate Arts Centre is a community theatre in the heart of Saddleworth on the Pennine hills.
We have lots of enquires for venue hire so, we felt it was worth making some information available on our site to assist enquirers and save you time.
Please take the time to read the following before getting in touch and only use the email address associated with this particular page for venue hire purposes only. If it is something else you are enquiring about, just go to the relevant page and redirect your query accordingly.
Whether you are familiar with our venue or not, there is a short walk-through video showing the space, accompanied by some logistical/technical information. This may answer many of your questions:
Community Theatre in the heart of Saddleworth
We are a community and creative arts venue and registered charity, run exclusively by volunteers.
We have several parts of the ‘Millgate Family’ who have use of our facilities throughout the year: Saddleworth Players, Film Society, Concerts Society and Musical Society. This allows us to programme a diverse offer to the community and to our audiences. Because of this we have very limited availability/capacity, but look for external acts that can help us deliver more against our stated purpose.
We are particularly busy during the November-January period when, in practical terms, we are ‘at’ capacity every year.
In addition, we do not ‘book’ touring shows, acts or bands as we are not a venue which programmes such work as part of our own offer.
What’s available for hire
Our auditorium ( and Green Room / tech box ) is available to hire subject to a formal booking process and a signed agreement. This will usually be for one or two nights only. We have very limited capacity for additional rehearsal times. Apart from our auditorium, we do not have any additional rehearsal or meeting space within the theatre, apart from our bar area. The bar area is not available to hire for meetings or events apart from by our members. We do not hire it out for sporting or political events. As this space also services the auditorium, it will be appreciated that it limits its availability for commercial events/hires.
The Arts Centre is also currently undergoing a programme of upgrades and maintenance. It is expected that the next phase of these will take place through June-August 2026 during which the theatre will be dark.
Key conditions for external hirers
- Full insurance in place for hirer
- Hirers are responsible for obtaining all necessary consents to use copyright material and for any fees arising out of the use of such materials.
- The building must be vacated by 23:45 (at the latest) each night and cannot be accessed before 07:30.
- Everything brought onto site must be removed at the end of the hire.
- Unless otherwise agreed and subject to the availability of our volunteers, hirers are responsible for providing their own competent technical staff (sound, lighting, stage management/crew) and where appropriate, FoH staff. WE will always have a FoH Manager on site for safety reasons.
- Full hire conditions and a booking form area available on request.
The money bit
The standard fees for one day hire payable within 7 days of hire
The auditorium: £600
The bar: £150
We may agree a box office split net of Ticketsource fees (‘profit share’) for some shows. This will be on the basis of 70/30 in favour of the act.
