Author: Melbourning

Summer festival season is about to kick off again, with Castaway Festival announcing a stacked lineup for its return to Melbourne this December. The Australian music festival will hit Mornington Racecourse on Saturday 12 December, bringing together hip hop, rock, pop and indie acts for one big day out. Headlining the Melbourne edition are Australian hip hop favourites Hilltop Hoods, alongside Violent Soho, Amy Shark, Playlunch, Trials, Lyric and Birdland. Hilltop Hoods will bring more than two decades of hits to the stage, with the Adelaide trio having firmly established themselves as one of the country’s biggest live acts. Brisbane…

Melbourne photographers can sharpen their skills, try out the latest cameras and even score a free professional headshot, with Camera House Melbourne CBD marking its first birthday with a week-long celebration of photography. Running from 24 to 31 August, the Elizabeth Street store is hosting a program of free and low-cost events, including guided photo walks, live-model portrait sessions, camera demonstrations and hands-on workshops featuring Fujifilm, Canon, LUMIX, Sony, Nikon and OM SYSTEM. The celebrations officially kick off on Tuesday 25 August with free in-store headshots from 11am to 2pm. Visitors can drop in during their lunch break to update…

Melbourne can expect a taste of Italy this spring, with the full program for the 2026 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival now revealed. Presented by Palace, the festival returns from 18 September to 15 October, bringing 33 films to cinemas across the city, along with special guests, a celebration of legendary actor Anna Magnani and a free exhibition of vintage Italian movie posters. “Australia’s favourite love affair with Italy is back for another exciting year with a remarkable thirty three films in the line up,” Festival Director Elysia Zeccola said. “We’re thrilled to be welcoming two huge names in Italian…

A buried secret, three complicated lives and one night that changes everything are at the centre of Luke, a new Australian play receiving its world premiere at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre this September. Developed through Red Stitch’s INK program, the decades-spanning and proudly queer work comes from Melbourne-based playwright Angus Cameron and opens on Friday 18 September. Directed by Iain Sinclair, Luke unfolds over one pivotal night in 2007, when Chris, fresh out of high school, spends the evening drinking, arguing and philosophising with two older teacher friends. As a long-hidden secret begins to emerge, the night takes an irreversible…

The Dandy Warhols are headed to Victoria to headline the Meredith Festival. But if you haven’t been successful in the ballot for tickets, don’t fret: they have just announced a Palais Theatre sideshow as part of their upcoming Pin Ups tour. The US alternative rock favourites will play the Palais Theatre on Thursday, December 10, one day before their appearance at Meredith Festival. The Melbourne show is part of an Australian and New Zealand tour that will also stop in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Fremantle. The tour kicks off in Hobart on November 24 with something a little different, as…

Melbourne foodies can pick up a free full-size bottle of Panda Brand Oyster and meet MasterChef Australia favourite Declan Cleary when Lee Kum Kee brings a huge food giveaway to QV Melbourne this Saturday 22 August. The event will celebrate more than 50 years of Lee Kum Kee in Australia, with 2,000 full-size bottles of their new Panda Brand Oyster Sauce Squeezable Bottle up for grabs at QV Square. Running from 11am to 4pm at the corner of Lonsdale Street and Swanston Street, the event will also dish out 1,500 freshly prepared tasting dishes and 2,500 complimentary Panda Brand Oyster…

More than a decade after it became a runaway Australian theatre hit, Matilda The Musical is returning to Melbourne, with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed production set to open at the Princess Theatre in October 2027. Based on Roald Dahl’s much-loved 1988 novel, the musical will then travel to Sydney and Brisbane in 2028, giving a new generation of Australian audiences the chance to experience the stage show that has already won more than 100 international awards. For anyone who has somehow missed the Matilda phenomenon, the story follows Matilda Wormwood, an exceptionally bright young girl who finds little encouragement…

Melbourne is about to get a taste of LA as the Los Angeles Rams bring a week of fan experiences, community events and American football fever to the city ahead of the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Australia. The Rams will face the San Francisco 49ers at the MCG on Friday, September 11, with Crown Melbourne becoming the official lome of Los Angeles Rams fans in Australia and the team’s official fan hotel. The biggest celebration will take over Crown Riverwalk from Thursday, September 10 to Saturday, September 12, with Rams House: The LA Tailgate Experience transforming the Yarra…

The PayPal Australian Fashion Festival is taking its runway beyond Melbourne, with Bendigo and Shepparton set to host their own fashion-packed programs this spring. Formerly known as the Melbourne Fashion Festival, PAFF will present the Bendigo Fashion Series from 12 to 20 September, followed by the Shepparton Fashion Series from 3 to 11 October, marking a major step in its push to become a year-round fashion platform across Victoria. Bendigo will get 31 events across nine days, with tickets already on sale, while Shepparton will host more than 20 events, with tickets going live on August 27. The expansion follows…

Footscray is getting a new monthly food market, with Slow Food Melbourne and Maribyrnong City Council teaming up to bring local producers, food trucks and fresh produce to the heart of the CBD. Slow Foodscray will launch in September at Maddern Square, taking place on the first Sunday of each month and bringing the community together around food, culture and local makers. The new market builds on the popularity of Slow Food Melbourne’s existing markets in West Footscray and Edgewater, which have become regular destinations for fresh produce, makers and food lovers. Now, that same focus on local and sustainable…

Four decades after Men At Work first introduced the world to their unmistakably Australian sound, Colin Hay and the band are returning home for a national tour celebrating 45 years of Business As Usual. The Australian rock icons will play four headline shows across the country this spring, including the Palais Theatre in Melbourne on Wednesday 4 November. Business As Usual arrived in 1981 and quickly became a global success, delivering songs that remain firmly embedded in Australian pop culture, including Down Under, Who Can It Be Now? and Be Good Johnny. The album spent 15 weeks at number one…