Best entertainers in Wollongong
Duos run the Illawarra. Scroll the Wollongong list and you'll meet two-piece acoustic acts and solo singers well before you meet a full band, and most of them give a Wollongong address, with a cluster down at Shellharbour and Warilla and a couple up the coast at Wombarra. Bigger bands are here too, just fewer of them, and once you're after a six-piece with horns the quote often comes from Sydney with the drive down built into it. Check where an act is based before you fall for the video.
Sydney is only an hour up the road, so its acts stay on the Sydney page rather than this one, and Campbelltown has a list of its own over the escarpment. What you get here is the acts who call the coast home. Drag, DJs and a disco band are in the mix alongside the duos, so it isn't all acoustic guitars.
Top picks in Wollongong
Top picks are the nearby performers with the most visible reviews, then rating, then the closest; further afield the closest come first, and premium listings break remaining ties. Distances are straight-line from Wollongong. Ask each act whether they travel to your venue and what that costs.
Questions people ask about entertainers in Wollongong
How long is a drag show?
A drag act at a private party usually does a set of twenty to forty minutes, with numbers, some crowd work and often a game or two, and can come back for a second spot later in the night. Some Wollongong performers will also host the whole event as MC. Tell them the room and the crowd, because a hen's night in a Shellharbour function room and a corporate dinner want different material.
How much does a DJ cost in Wollongong?
What decides it is hours, whether the DJ is running the ceremony and speeches as well as the dance floor, and where the DJ lives. A Wollongong or Shellharbour DJ quoting a local job has no highway to include; a Sydney DJ coming down the escarpment does. The from-prices next to each Wollongong DJ on this page are what local DJs are quoting today.
Do Wollongong acts play Kiama and the South Coast?
Yes, and a lot of the Illawarra's wedding work is down that way. Kiama and Gerringong are a short run for a Shellharbour duo, Berry and the Shoalhaven a little further, and the acts here will usually name the point where travel starts to show up on the quote. The Southern Highlands over the escarpment is the same conversation in the other direction.
Is there a full band scene in Wollongong or do I need Sydney?
There's a band scene, it's just thinner than the duo scene, and the bigger outfits get asked for the same Saturdays by Sydney couples too. For a four-piece cover band you'll likely find a local; for a nine-piece with horns you may be looking at Sydney with the drive on the bill. Try the local list first and go up the hill only for what it can't do.
Booking tips
Ask a duo how they fill a dance floor
Plenty of Wollongong duos run backing tracks and a second set that gets loud, and some don't. If you want the dinner set and the dancing from the same act, find out which kind they are.
Beach ceremonies need their own power
A lot of Wollongong ceremonies happen on the sand or a headland, and there's rarely a power point nearby. A singer with a battery amp is the usual fix; ask before you assume they've got one.
Sydney rates aren't Wollongong rates
A local act quotes for a local job. If a number comes back that feels high, ask whether it includes travel from Sydney, because a Shellharbour singer might do the same set without it.