Tanks Arts Centre is the most distinctive live venue in Cairns and it is almost invisible in travel writing about the city, which is why this page exists. It sits at 46 to 64 Collins Avenue in Edge Hill, alongside the Botanic Gardens, and it describes itself as the home of live music and arts in Cairns. It is a Cairns Regional Council venue, run under the council Creative Life program.
What is actually there
The venue is built into a set of enormous industrial tanks, and the spaces are named accordingly. Tank 4 is the gallery. Tank 5 is the performance venue, used for live music, comedy and film. The scale and the acoustics of a curved steel tank are the whole point, and they are the reason people who see one show here talk about it for years. The council does not publish the history of the tanks on the venue site, so we are not going to repeat the version that circulates online without a source behind it.
Hours, and the difference between them
The gallery is open 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday and 10.00am to 2.00pm on weekends. The office runs 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday and closes on public holidays. Those are not performance times: shows are ticketed events on their own schedule, so check what is on before you plan an evening around it.
Tanks Markets
The markets are the easiest way to see the place without buying a ticket to anything. The venue lists market dates of 27 September, 25 October and 29 November. Times are not published on the site, so check the event listing before you go. The markets run in and around the tanks with the Botanic Gardens next door, which makes for one of the better mornings in Cairns if you time it right.
Tickets
Ticketing runs through Ticketlink on 1300 855 835 rather than through the venue directly. Shows at a venue this size sell out, particularly touring acts, so buy ahead rather than turning up.
Make a morning or an evening of it
Tanks sits on the same street as the Cairns Botanic Gardens and the Edge Hill cafe strip, so the obvious combination is the gardens and their free guided walk in the morning, coffee on Collins Avenue, and the gallery on the way through. If you are here for a show, the same street gives you somewhere to eat first, which matters because Edge Hill is a suburb rather than a restaurant precinct and things close earlier than in town.
Access
The venue states that it is an inclusive and accessible arts venue that welcomes people of all abilities, and it publishes an accessibility page. Specific detail on wheelchair access, accessible parking and seating is not set out on the pages we could read, so if you have a particular requirement, contact the venue before booking rather than after.
FAQs
Where is Tanks Arts Centre? 46 to 64 Collins Avenue, Edge Hill, alongside the Cairns Botanic Gardens, about ten minutes from the Cairns CBD.
What are the Tanks gallery hours? 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday and 10.00am to 2.00pm on weekends.
How do I buy tickets for a show at Tanks? Through Ticketlink on 1300 855 835.
When are the Tanks Markets? The venue lists 27 September, 25 October and 29 November. Times are not published, so check the listing before you go.
Visitor info
Address: 46 to 64 Collins Avenue, Edge Hill QLD 4870, alongside the Cairns Botanic Gardens.
Gallery: 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 2.00pm weekends.
Office: 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, closed public holidays.
Tickets: Ticketlink on 1300 855 835.
Run by: Cairns Regional Council, under its Creative Life program.
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Header photo: Junglenut via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and colour adjusted.
