Hempton Hall is the war memorial hall at the corner of Carthew Street and Old South Road, in the centre of Okato — a coastal village on Surf Highway 45 southwest of New Plymouth. It is a New Plymouth District Council venue and the main public hall for the Okato district.
The hall is a medium-sized building of 539m² with a maximum capacity of 250. It has a stage with an adjoining dressing room, a separate supper room, heating, bar facilities, and a kitchen fitted with an oven and cups and saucers for over 100 people. Furniture available with the hire runs to six trestle tables, 150 padded seats and 50 plywood and steel-framed chairs. There is plenty of street parking around the hall.
The hall and the supper room are hired separately and charged by the hour, with tiered rates: casual users pay the standard rate, while regular users on weekly, monthly or annual bookings pay less, and regular groups whose membership is 60 per cent or more children and superannuitants pay less again.
Bookings are handled locally, and full contact details — address, email and mobile — are required. The hall does not accept adult milestone birthdays or after-ball functions; only children's birthday parties are permitted.
The hall is regularly used for weddings, cabarets, concerts and aerobics, and functions as Okato's civic gathering place.
For business events, Hempton Hall covers the mid-size end well. Its stage and dressing room support presentations, prizegivings and awards evenings; the supper room gives you a breakout, registration or catering space; the bar and kitchen make a conference dinner or networking function practical without external hire; and crockery for over 100 removes a common catering headache. It suits AGMs, industry and rural sector meetings, field-day briefings, training days and seminars for groups up to 250. No AV is listed, so bring your own screen, projector and sound. Compare other Taranaki venues.
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