This was published 8 years ago
An introvert's guide to navigating White Night Melbourne
Hate crowds? Here's our handy guide to stealing a quiet moment at White Night amidst all the craziness.
By Annabel Ross
- Survival guide: How to make the most of White Night
- What to see when: Hour-by-hour guide
- Top 10: Where to eat and drink
Hate crowds? There are ways to avoid them; not every attraction at White Night is going to be teeming with people. Here's our handy guide to stealing a quiet moment amidst all the craziness of Melbourne's fourth annual all-night arts party.
1) Go to the movies
ACMI is open all night for White Night, and while we can't promise an empty cinema, you will at the very least have a seat entirely to yourself and the chance to chill for an hour or so. Direct from Minnesota come highlights from the 2015 Walker Art Centre Internet Cat Video Festival, but if feline funnies aren't your thing, there's also Australian race relations mockumentary Babakiueria, nostalgic Aussie coast film Girt by Sea and experimental short Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy.
2) Go hide in a laneway
Tucked behind the much busier Hosier Lane, Rutledge Lane will host Neon Laneway, a riot of urban art and contemporary dance that promises to be spectacular while being far enough from the madding crowds to offer some respite.
3) Take me to church
This is not your usual Saturday night mass, but from 2.40am to 6.30am, take a pew at St Paul's Cathedral and let an array of young classical musicians help you achieve serenity now. Other visuals and voices will fill the cathedral all night long including Silver Rain: Illuminated Opera.
4) Get ghosted
The Princes Bridge underpass is one place unlikely to get a lot of foot traffic on the night, making it the perfect site for Ectoplasm. "Electrical explorers" Feverstone and friends will invoke the spirits of the Melbourne formerly known as Bearbrass with spooky sound and vision and seances at 9pm, midnight and beyond.
5) Admire art in an alley
Inspired by the Portuguese term "saudade", describing a feeling of wistfulness, melancholy or nostalgia, Brianna Hudson's contemplative video painting Place of Longing encourages quiet reflection off the beaten track, in Rainbow Alley.
6) Lounge in the library
Ok, so you probably won't be alone here, but with artists Nick Azidis, Lisa Greenaway, Adem Jaffers and Bentley Dean turning the dome of the State Library into a "terrarium of the mind, an ecosystem of imagination" in Ideation, what choice does one have but to sit back and relax?