Looking for something to do over the King’s Birthday long weekend? There’s plenty to choose from across Melbourne and Victoria: here are 40 of the best events or experiences to consider. 1. Head into town for the packed program of events RISING has to offer The King’s Birthday weekend lands slap bang in the middle of RISING’s epic 16 days. RISING will stretch down the spine of Swanston St and beyond as large scale installations, free public events and world-class contemporary music, theatre and dance, ignite the city’s streets, venues and hidden spaces. You can see the whole program at 2024.rising.melbourne…
Author: Melbourning
Pakenham Station will open tomorrow, Monday 3 June following a major upgrade, along with a brand-new East Pakenham Station that extends the metropolitan train line by two kilometres into Melbourne’s newest suburb. East Pakenham delivers a direct connection into a growing community, set to accommodate around 7,200 new homes in the coming years – putting more houses close to transport connections, schools and jobs. The new East Pakenham Station will also provide better connections for regional Victorians – with dedicated V/Line tracks to cut congestion and improve service reliability on the Gippsland Line. All Pakenham Line services will run through…
With the start of the winter season upon us, Uniqlo is offering Melburnians an opportunity to pick up a free item of clothing from its HEATTECH thermal range through an immersive product experience at Emporium Melbourne on Thursday 6 June. A giant HEATTECH shirt installation will be on the ground floor of Emporium Melbourne, allowing customers to test the warmth of their current winter wardrobe by walking inside to receive a digital ’thermal’ image of themselves that visually showcases the warmth their current clothing provides. Customers will then enter their details to receive their thermal image and a voucher to pick up…
Australian audiences can expect a kaleidoscope of colour, 80s fashion, pop culture and incredible dancing, when Disco Dancer – The Musical comes to the stage- inspired by the famous Bollywood film – and performed entirely in Hindi. After sold-out shows at London’s West End, Australian audiences will be treated to the musical adaptation of Mithun Chakraborty’s iconic 1982 blockbuster Disco Dancer, with a reimagined score by Salim Sulaiman. The film was one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time and huge Bollywood global success story. Disco Dancer tells a rags-to-riches story of a young performer from the slums…
The program for the 2024 Bendigo Writers Festival has been launched – bringing together more than 90 writers and thinkers. This year’s festival takes place from Friday 16 August to Sunday 18 August with a packed program featuring Julie Goodwin, Annabel Crabb, Kate Grenville, Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien, The festival’s opening gala event on Friday night (16 August) offers an up close and personal interview with Annabel Crabb. The well-known journalist and TV presenter will be under the spotlight for a change with questions from La Trobe University Curator Clare Wright. The night will also feature poetry readings from…
Grab your cowboy boots and saddle up, Ridin’ Hearts Festival returns to Sydney and Melbourne this November! The boot-scootin’ ride of a lifetime will land in Sydney on Saturday 2 November and Melbourne on Sunday 3 November. Making its debut in 2023, Ridin’ Hearts has captured the hearts of loyal country fans and the country-curious, serving up country charm in the city like never before. The one-of-a-kind daylong festival from the team that brings you CMC Rocks delivered an impressive line-up of country music stars to Sydney and Melbourne last year, headlined by US wunderkind Bailey Zimmerman. With rave reviews from fans, industry and artists alike, the inaugural Ridin’ Hearts Festival snagged the hottest international and local artists…
Africa Fashion – the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of fashion from the African continent ever mounted in Australia – opens today at the National Gallery of Victoria. The exhibition coming to Melbourne from the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London and wide range of old and new fashion designs from top designers. The Australian premiere of Africa Fashion includes almost 200 pieces, including ornate, custom-made, and everyday clothes, as well as body decorations. It features more than 50 designers from 22 countries and regions in Africa. The exhibition showcases great designs from famous African fashion figures of the twentieth…
Lime Cordiale have revealed they will hit the road in October for a run of headline shows across Australia and New Zealand. They’ll be joined by Ball Park Music on all of their Australian dates. Lime Cordiale are taking the world by storm, delivering their infectious live performance to wildly enthusiastic crowds across the globe. Their genuine, generous interactions with their fans have made them one of Australia’s most in-demand acts, selling out shows from Vancouver to Vienna and everywhere in between. In 2023 alone, the home-grown duo branched out with the release of their own carbon neutral beer Largo, landed four spots in the triple j Hottest 100,…
Despite facing a strong El Nino event and record-high ocean temperatures around Phillip Island, the little penguin population appears to have thrived during the breeding season from July 2023 to March 2024. Researchers from Phillip Island Nature Parks say they observed a higher-than-expected number of fledgling chicks, defying expectations of a decline due to climate change. Phillip Island Nature Parks Senior Scientist Professor Andre Chiaradia said the island’s little penguins had benefitted from a longer than normal breeding season that ran for nine months rather than the usual three to four months. “El Nino changes the weather pattern of the…
Aussie rockstars Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger) and Paul Dempsey (Something For Kate) have teamed up on a new collaboration called Fanning Dempsey National Park – and they’re dropping an album and going on tour. Their debut album, The Deluge will be released on 2 August and they’ll tour Australia in October and November, A statement released by the duo said: “We’ve been telling you all how excited we are for you to hear our new album The Deluge’ but that doesn’t compare to the fever we have to announce our national tour. It’s coming in October/November to a venue near you.…
Tens of thousands of people are expected to flood Ballarat on Saturday night for White Night, with the streets and venues of the city set to be transformed through illuminations, projections, music, and interactive works. It is the fourth time the free event has been held in Ballarat, but the first time since 2019. It will take place from 6pm to midnight on Saturday 1 June. The program Laser beams, breathtaking projections, an array of live music, interactive works; the one-night-only event is something not to be missed. White Night Ballarat will feature almost 40 projections and more than 100…
Brisbane’s award-winning cult cabaret mischief makers, circus stars and heart-stopping hooligans Briefs Factory present their brand-new show Bite Club: 2nd Serve on the Playhouse stage at Arts Centre Melbourne from 25 – 29 September 2024. Australia’s favourite “carnie” queens will be serving up their signature camp-cabaret fantasy of circus, drag and comedy in a sultry showcase of outrageous entertainment. For the first time in the world-renowned boylesque troupe’s history, the production of Bite Club: 2nd Serve sees them joined on stage by songstress Sahara Beck fronting a live band and performing original music. It’s a potent pairing that ups the ante in variety extravaganza. Described as one of Australia’s most arresting performers, Sahara…