Your guide to what’s on in Melbourne this weekend
FROM festivals and fashion to art, exhibitions and family-friendly activities, we have your essential guide to all the events happening across Melbourne this weekend.
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FROM festivals and fashion to art, exhibitions and family-friendly activities, we have your essential guide to all the events happening across Melbourne this weekend.
WHERE TO CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN IN MELBOURNE
BEST FREE THINGS TO DO IN THE CITY
FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES TO DO IN VICTORIA
PAX Australia 2018
Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, 1 Convention Centre Pl, South Wharf — Saturday-Sunday, Various times/prices
See the Indie Showcase and PAX Rising with video games, tabletop games, VR, PC areas, handheld gaming areas, arcade games & escape rooms. There’s an Omegathon tournament, and panels, quizzes and speakers.
Concert: Cam Giles
The Fyrefly, 34 Inkerman St, St Kilda — Friday, 6.30pm $28.60 to $86.70. oztix.com.au
Multi-instrumentalist Cam Giles has gone and reinterpreted the music of INXS into the language of jazz. And it’s actually very good. He will tell ribald stories of recording with Michael Hutchence and the rest of INXS around the time of Kick.
Bunjil Place Birthday celebrations
Bunjil Place, 2 Patrick NE Dve, Narre Warren — Sunday, 10am-5pm. FREE.
One thousand free cupcakes. Now I have your attention, you should plan to gobble one of those down at the Bunjil Place first birthday party. The Listies will be doing their madcap kids’ thing and One Fell Swoop Circus will bring its production, By A Thread (left), performing at 11am and 2pm. Buskers in the plaza will showcase their new jams, while food trucks will have all appetites covered with Harry Hoo Dumplings, 3 Lil Monsters and a Pizza Van, along with Let’s Waffle and Shake, and Little Sugar Caravan.
Sea Life Melbourne’s Sea Life Nights — Halloween Edition
Sea Life, King St CBD — Friday 6pm $59.
Stingrays are both calm and anxiety inducing. They probably feel the same with these glowing, underwater pumpkins. It’s all for a grown-up Halloween. There’s a band performing in Upper Deck Rainforest, a penguin talk, a croc talk, a live show, a shark talk, Jack the Flipper, murderous mermaids, spooktacular roving performers, live music and zombie bar tenders. There’s even costume judging in the Coral Atoll at the end of the night.
Kyneton Musical Festival
Bluestone Theatre and St Paul’s Park Kyneton — Friday and Saturday. Various times, $22.45 TO $104.05.
This has become a must-attend regional event. See Adalita, Sonny & The Sunsets, RVG, Pony Face, A. Swayze & The Ghosts, Rackett, The Southern River Band and more. Kids welcome, kick off ya shoes, run wild.
Holey Cheese Festival
Deli Ln, QVM Peel st CBD — Tuesday 10am-2pm, Thursday 10am-2pm. Friday-Saturday 10am-9pm. Sunday 10am-5pm. FREE
This is one ooze bus you won’t mind pulling up to. Taste the best in all things cheese while 400 Gradi will create an incredible 140-cheese pizza.
Theatre: The Architect
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, 140 Southbank Blvd — Saturday, 8.30pm, Mon-Tue, 6.30PM, Wed, 1pm, 8pm $42/$105.
THE MTC loves a world premiere. It gives you, the keen theatregoer, a chance to really own a play. Aidan Fennessy’s The Architect is a dramatic rumination on what makes life truly worth living. Take a BFF.
Concert: Firebird Trio
Hawthorn Arts Centre 360 Burwood Rd — Friday, 8pm $30/$36.
Heavy hitters from the chamber music world — pianist/composer Benjamin Martin, violinist Curt Thompson and cellist Josephine Vains — will bring to life Beethoven’s Ghost Piano Trio in D major and the fiery Piano Trio in C minor Op. 1 No.3.
Charity concert: Murray Mandel
Vicinity Broadmeadow Central, 1099-1169 Pascoe Vale Rd — Thu-next sat, 10am-2.30pm. FREE.
Murray Mandel will play his 251st performance on Thursday in a three-year mission to raise funds for Lifeline (donate at 13 11 14). He is travelling around Australia playing classical guitar music and is performing at 24 Melbourne shopping centres.
Concert: Ferry Corsten
Trak, 445 Toorak rd, Toorak — Friday 9pm $30 to $50.
Trance music fans unite, DJ Ferry Corsten will hammer out sounds at 128 beats per minute. He is joined by special guest Airwave on warm-up.
The Glen Gin Gallery
Near Uniqlo, The Glen, 235 Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley — Open now until Nov. 4. Various times. FREE.
Complimentary cocktail tastings featuring Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin and Negroni Spiced Gin and, for those who get in early enough, Four Pillars Gin-infused desserts. There’s arty DJs too.
Open House Bendigo
Conservatory Gardens, Pall Mall, Bendigo — Saturday and Sunday, 10am, 11.30am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm. FREE.
Tackle the Open House Bendigo walking tour. You’ll get a decent glimpse at the story of settlement, architecture and building “the Vienna of the bush”.
Exhibition: Ground Up
Scienceworks, Spotswood — Daily, 10am-4.30pm $15. Kids free.
This interactive exhibition is subtitled Building Big Ideas Together and is aimed at 0-5 years old. Bright sparks can make patterns and pictures with lights on a giant wall of colourful switches. This is start of vital STEM learning.
Hop Fest at Healesville
Healesville Sanctuary, Badger Creek Rd — Saturday until Nov. 6. Daily, 9am-5pm. Tastings 11am-4pm $10 to $49.
Fancy a few local brews, ciders, delicious local produce and live tunes while helping save the brush-tailed rock wallaby? I like the way you think. Hop Fest is here to help. And there’s a pop-up Chandon “S” Sparkling Bar if you like to lift the pinky finger. Check out Spirits of the Sky and Tales from Platypus Creek.
Halloween Events in Melbourne
Rabbit Hole-Oween
13/227 Ballarat Rd, Braybrook — Tuesday-Wednesday, 9.30am-5pm. Tickets: $14.50/$17.50.
Behold, Australia’s first sugar-free Halloween event and a little monster dance party. Meet ‘n’ greet Drac and Mavis from Halloween smash Hotel Transylvania plus spooky facepainting.
Spooktacular
Watergardens Town Centre 399 Melton Highway, Taylors Lakes — Wed-Thu, Noon-5pm. FREE.
Halloween Town is an interactive space with scary performers entertaining visitors as they wait with trepidation to knock on the Spooky Doors and get a scary surprise. Ahhhh. There’s a spooky cemetery, gigantic spiders and a DJ.
Halloween Festival
99 Fitzroy St, Kilda and Surrounds — Saturday 4pm-7pm. FREE
Get into the (scary) spirit with roving performers: The Addams Family, the creepy Rocky Horror cast, Dracula, Beetlejuice, Joker and stilt walkers including The Grim Reaper and Jack Skellington. Kids will love the facepainting stations, the Balloon Guy and children’s disco. Dress up for it.
HalloweenFest
Richmond Primary School — Saturday 2pm-8pm. FREE
Frightful family vibes. Enjoy slime making, facepainting, bloodcurdling rides and a dance party. For adults, there will be plenty of giveaways and a “deathly” silent auction.
HOWL-O-Ween Paw Parade
Rouse st, Graham st & Liardet St, Port Melbourne — Sunday, Noon-4pm. Free.
Dogs in freaky costumes? Sold. Last year, 300 pups strutted their stuff. Register your pooch and finetune that topical outfit. Bring doggie treats.
Spooktacular Halloween Festival
Cnr Clow and Cleeland streets, Dandenong — Saturday, 10am-3pm. Free.
STrick or treat treasure hunt, a spooky craft workshop, a wand-making workshop, scary hair makeovers. See roaming characters Bertha the Witch, Peggy Leg, Rory the dinosaur and Chef Monstro being cheeky.
Things to do with kids this weekend
Puffing Billy
1 Old Monbulk Rd, Belgrave — Various Times/Prices.
Ride the steam trains with family and friends and go “toot toot”.
Stories at MPavilion
MPavilion, Queen Victoria Gardens, St Kilda RD — Thu, 10.30-11.30am. FREE.
Relaxed, rollicking and engaging storytelling adventures divided into sessions. Beautiful setting.
Melbourne Playground
Fed Square — Sunday, 10am-Noon, 2-pm. Free.
Public games exhibition showing video games and cool technologies.
American General Motor Cars show
Manhattan Hotel carpark, Cnr Heatherdale & Canterbury Roads Ringwood — Sunday, 10am $5.
Kids will marvel at these cars. They sure don’t make them like they used to.
Collingwood Children’s Farm
18 St Heliers St, Abbotsford — Daily, 9.15am-4.45am $3/$10.
Pat the baby chicks, milk the cows (10am & 4pm), admire the peacocks from afar and see donkeys, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, geese and ducks. This is always a grand day out and kids learn empathy from animals.
Billy Lids Play Centre
86 Lynch St, Hawthorn — Various times/ Prices.
Super fun place with rhythm rumble music sessions, arts and craft and much more.
Markets
North Essedon
Saturday, 9am-1pm — 1059 Mt Alexander Rd
Arts and craft market. All stallholders will wear mad hats, there’s free morning tea and a plethora of stalls with edgy, bohemian gifts.
A Plus
Saturday, 10am -3pm — Bell st Corburg
Shop direct from local independent designers offering market-only discounts and preloved big brand-named plus sizes.
St. Kilda
Sunday, 10am-5pm — Upper Esplanade
Rasta Lion jewellery, T-shirts and bags, Omdurman Bazzar African jewellery, Phillip Brown Designs’ newspaper and timbers.
Hanging Rock
Every Saturday 9am-2pm — South Rd Woodend
Urban Street Food spring rolls, breakfast rice paper rolls, Driftwood lotion applicator and mitt, Into Christmas wreaths.
Art Centre
Every Sunday, 10am-4pm — Lawn St Kilda rd City
Crafty Jack, Minx Design, Soothe Essential Products, EcoSilk, Longbeach Wood Design, Kalinowski Jewellery, Apiary Made.
What’s on in Melbourne this week
Aunty Donna Tour
Max Watts 125 Swanston st, City — Friday-Saturday 8pm $35/$42.50.
Aunty Donna, everyone’s favourite triple-threat trick and treat posse, is embarking on The Album Tour in support of its crazily titled debut long player, The Album. Three amigos Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane have amassed 33 million views on YouTube and smashed it out of the park (read: schoolgrounds) at the Comedy Festival with their Glennridge Secondary College show. They return to the scene of the crime, Max Watts, to play songs such as Chuffed (Dad Song), Sometimes I Struggle to Finish Projects, Best Day of My Life and Secret Track. Pls Don’t Listen. You’ll have no choice in the matter at this riotous, ribald show.
Concert: The Aints
Caravan Music Club, 1 Victor Rd, Bentleigh East — Friday, 8pm $55+bf.
THE AINTS! It’s the return of The Aints! They’re gonna play their debut album The Church Of Simultaneous Existence plus a cornucopia of Saints classics. See Ed Kuepper, Peter Oxley, Paul Larsen and a hot band warming up for Meredith.
Workshop: Dream Life Masterclass
Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre, South Wharf — Mon, 6.30pm $84.83 to $230.29.
It’s kikki. K time. Kristina Karlsson will be joined by Dr Tererai Trent and together they will provide inspirational tools and tips on how to level up. MC is The Project’s Gorgi Coghlan.
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