I subscribe to all the things so you don’t have to. This is a curated list of what’s been announced over the past week so you can save the date, or swoop on tickets, and also a list of what’s coming up soon if you’re looking to make last-minute plans.
What’s new?
New interactive exhibition headed to ACMI in May
Endless play abounds at ACMI this winter, as world premiere exhibition Beings comes alive from 22 May to 29 September 2024. Comprised of 13 artworks drawn from the 20-year career of international art and design collective Universal Everything – including the premiere of four brand new artworks – Beings features an assortment of curious characters born from code.
Dan Sultan teaming up with MSO for NAIDOC Week
As part of this year’s NAIDOC Week, singer-songwriter Dan Sultan will collaborate with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his third studio album, Blackbird.
Regurgitator touring in May and June
Regurgitator has just announced a massive tour of Australia in support of their upcoming album Invader. The It’s So Invasive tour will play 21 dates across the nation in May and June, including three Victorian shows in Melbourne, Castlemaine and Geelong.
Massive cheese lovers festival returns in June
Australia’s largest cheese festival, Mould, is headed back to Melbourne with a massive line-up of some of the best artisan cheese in the nation. The event is taking place at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton on 28 and 29 June.
Renowned Manchester rave headed down under
The Warehouse Project, Manchester’s revered institution, renowned for its cultural impact in the rave scenes, has announced it will head to the Southern Hemisphere for the very first time – for one weekend only, Saturday 25 and Sunday 2 May 2024, in Melbourne and Sydney.
Electric Six Greatest Hits tour
Following a completely sold out tour in 2023, disco-punk band Electric Six are returning to Australia for their Greatest Hits Tour. They’ll be coming to Melbourne in May to the Croxton Band Room.
Save the date for these
Also just announced:
- Both the Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn and Classic Cinemas in Elsternwick are holding epic Harry Potter marathons from 11am Saturday 6 April where you can watch all eight Harry Potter films back-to-back.
- The Melbourne Fashion Hub’s 2024 pop-up store is on 23 and 24 March in Collingwood, featuring designers from LCI Melbourne, RMIT, and Whitehouse Institute of Design who will showcase and offer for sale an array of first-to-market designs.
- The 2024 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne dates have been announced: it’s all happening on 15-25 August this year.
- More than 30,000 premium Chocolatier eggs are up for grabs at the Great Luna Park Easter Egg Hunt on 30 and 31 March.
- Catch a solo performance by Killing Heidi’s Ella Hooper at the Kingston City Hall Moorabbin on 18 May.
- Join the Upper Yarra Museum on a short wander in Warburton and experience snippets of local settlement history come to life through vignettes performed by Mad Hatter Theatrics and projections of historical images on 15 and 16 March.
- Award-winning entertainer Milko Foucault–Larche has joined forces with Parisian-born leading lady Corinne Andrew, to present a new stage cabaret celebrating the essence of French popular music called Paris After Dark. You can catch it at the Potato Shed on the Bellarine Peninsula on 15 March.
- The newly relocated Brunswick Op Shop is hosting a Grand Opening Party on 16 March marking 50 years serving the Brunswick community. The event will feature live music, family activities and a speech by Red Symons.
- RSPCA’s Million Paws Walk is on again, this year celebrating its 30th anniversary, with thousands of pups and their owners hitting the pavement across Australia on 26 May, raising vital funds to help end animal cruelty.
- Authors Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion will be at The Groove Train in Waurn Ponds on 29 April for a chat about their latest work of fiction The Glass House. Enjoy a custom cocktail while listening to them discuss what it is to live and work together, to be award winning authors and their new creation.
- Melbourne’s Easter Carnival 2024 at Whitehorse Civic Centre Precinct is happening 30-31 March with amusements, rides, showbags, an Easter egg hunt and more.
- To Palestine, With Love is a poetry, spoken word, and music event, bringing people together in love and solidarity for the Palestinian supporting community at the Wheeler Centre on 11 May.
What to do?
Never mind the naysayers, Melbourne is not dead! Here’s a round-up of things happening in and around Melbourne this weekend and over the next few weeks:
- The Broadway blockbuster musical Wicked will fly into Melbourne’s Emerald City at the Regent Theatre from 4 March.
- The Butterfly Club’s One Act Play Festival is on from 4-23 March
- Don’t miss Man Booker Prize winner Anne Enright in conversation with podcaster Astrid Edwards to discuss her newest novel, The Wren, The Wren at the State Library of Victoria on 5 March.
- The Alliance Française French Film Festival returns for its 35th yearn from Wednesday 6 March to Tuesday 2 April.
- The annual free Moomba festival returns over the March long weekend from 7-11 March.
- The Mornington Outdoor Living Caravan Expo is on at the Mornington Racecourse on 8-11 March.
- As the sun goes down, Wyndham Park in Werribeewill be LIT from 8-24 March for 13 spectacular and twinkling evenings with all new installations!
- UN Women Australia welcomes The Hon. Nicola Roxon, Chair of HESTA and Rachel Yang, Partner at Giant Leap to their International Women’s Day events, live in conversation in Melbourne on 8 March.
- The Soul Night Market is on at the Hastings Foreshore on 8 March.
- Scoresby Steamfest is on 9-11 March.
- The Port Phillip Mussel and Jazz Festival is on March 9-10 at the South Melbourne Market.
- The Red Hill Show is on Saturday 9 March.
- The Docklands Holi Festival is on 9-10 March.
- The Dromana Food and Drink Fair is on at the Dromana Pier Foreshore on 9 March.
- Catch Play School live in concert in Berwick on 9 March.
- Melbourne’s biggest baby and kids market, All For Kids, will be at Reservoir on 9 March.
- Join the Board Game BBQ crew for a full day of board gaming in Preston on 9 March.
- Steamrail’s biennial open days will take place at the Newport Workshops on Saturday 9 – Monday 11 March.
- Bunjil Place’s annual Global Flavour Feast is on 9 March – a day/night global food event bringing together the City of Casey’s most beloved food trucks, serving up a mouth watering array of our local cultural flavours.
- The Urban Craft Beer Crawl is heading to Collingwood for a tasty Saturday afternoon on 9 March.
- The Victorian Herpetological Society’s 2024 Reptile and Amphibian Expo is on at the Victoria Pavilion at the Melbourne Showgrounds on 9 March.
- The Yarraville Festival is on 10 March.
- Brunswick Music Festival is on until 11 March.
- The Europa! Europa! Film Festival is on until 11 March.
- The iconic Rock ‘N’ Roll musical The Rocky Horror Show is back and stars Australian superstar Jason Donovan as he reprises his role of Frank N Furter for the 2024 season. At the Athenaeum until 17 March.
- PHOTO Australia – the International Festival of Photography is massive event with more than 100 free exhibitions at galleries and unexpected venues around Melbourne and Victoria unti 24 March.
- Joan Lindsay’s My Day of Days exhibition runs until 30 March, exploring her personal connection to St Valentines Day at the National Trust Property Mulberry Hill.
- NGV Triennial 2023 is a powerful snapshot of the world today, captured through the work of over 100 artists, designers, and collectives at the forefront of global contemporary practice. Until 7 April.
- Tim Minchin’s Groundhog Day: The Musical is playing at the Princess Theatre until 7 April.
- Catch the immersive digital experience Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature at ACMI until 14 April.
- Spanning more than 50,000 square metres, the Blue Lotus Water Garden is a seasonal garden at Yarra Junction containing over 40 different ponds, lakes and water features. You can see it this year until 14 April.
- Pentridge Prison’s exhibition Crime Time TV is a fascinating and nostalgic journey through the history of Australian crime television, running until 14 April.
- Take a majestic 360-degree audio visual journey and explore iconic landscapes and connect with mesmerising animals from around the world at the BBC Earth Experience, on until 28 April.
- See more than 200 artefacts from the Titanic at the Melbourne Museum’s Titanic: The Artefacts Exhibition, running until 30 April.
- ICON – an exhibition of photos by acclaimed photographer Steve McCurry is on at Seaworks in Williamstown until 19 May.
- The Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne’s exhibition – NOT NATURAL – explores our increasing ability to control nature and the plethora of possibilities and ethical dilemmas that come with that power. Running until 29 June.
