The Biscuit Factory is a converted Victorian warehouse in Ouseburn, Newcastle’s cultural quarter, and it is now the largest independent contemporary art, craft and design gallery in the country, spread over two floors. Exposed brickwork, stripped floors, enormous industrial windows — and everywhere you look, original work by several hundred artists, all of it genuinely for sale. Getting married in it means your guests spend the drinks reception looking at art instead of at their phones, which is no small thing.
The spaces are varied enough that couples can pick a very different sort of day depending on which one they take. The Biscuit Room is the big one, a banqueting hall seating 300 with a stage and a dancefloor already in place. Artisan is smaller and warmer, taking around 100 with exposed brick and fireplaces. The Gallery seats 120 beneath a double-height atrium in the Cube gallery. The Garden Room is the surprise: a botanical conservatory with an indoor waterfall, seating 150. There is a Work Room for 40 as well, for the smallest gatherings.
All of the spaces are licensed, with ceremonies running anywhere from 40 to 250 guests. Catering can be handled in-house or brought in, there is a fully staffed bar throughout, and you can bring your own alcohol if you would rather, with corkage applied. It is an unusually flexible venue for a city building, and it suits couples who want somewhere with character and a bit of an attitude rather than a hotel function suite.
Where the band plays
The Biscuit Room is the obvious choice for a band, and a strong one: a permanent stage and dancefloor mean nobody is improvising a performance area, and at 300 seated it is a room that genuinely deserves a full line-up — horns, backing vocals, the lot. The other spaces are more intimate and more reflective; brick, glass and stripped floors carry sound a long way, so a four or five-piece with a decent engineer will get a far better result there than a large band playing flat out. Whichever space you take, tell your band which one it is early, because the right size of line-up varies enormously between them.
Ceremony, the galleries and drinks
For the ceremony, a harpist, a string quartet or a solo guitarist sounds excellent against all that brick and height and needs no amplification in the smaller rooms. Drinks in a gallery are a pleasure to plan for, because guests spread out among the work rather than clustering in one place — which makes a roaming acoustic act the sensible choice over a fixed stage nobody can find.
How the evening runs
Most spaces here run to around midnight, with some able to go to 1am, so there is room for a proper evening: two full band sets, a DJ afterwards and a late bar. The building has DJ facilities and Bluetooth connectivity built in, though a live band will bring its own PA. Being a city-centre warehouse, load-in means an agreed access door and an arrival slot rather than pulling up outside, so settle that with the venue in advance.
Bands available in Newcastle upon Tyne and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Newcastle upon Tyne.
- Newcastle upon Tyne Wedding Bands
- Newcastle upon Tyne Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Newcastle upon Tyne
- Wedding DJs in Newcastle upon Tyne
- Corporate Entertainment in Newcastle upon Tyne
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.