Victoria, Australia — Events
St Jerome's Laneway Festival
A unique rock festival with a twist that is taking the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide by storm, the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival brings music and culture lovers together for one unforgettable day, to get up close and personal in one of the many lanes and alleyways that intersect Melbourne’s city center. Quoted as one of the Australia’s most insurgent and unique pop music events ever, the annual Laneway Festival hosts over 30 different cutting edge Australian bands in four different locations, all performing at the same time.
Australian Open Tennis Championships
What started out as the Australasian Championships in 1905 has become what is known today as the Australian Open. It has been staged at six different venues: New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Since 1972, the tournament has been held every year at Melbourne Park. The Australian Open is one of the four tennis championships that make up the ‘Grand Slam,’ and a coveted prize for the top professionals.
Melbourne's Big Day Out
The famous Aussie touring label crashes into Melbourne’s Princes Park South for a festive day in the sunshine every year. Some of the biggest names in popular world music entertain the crowds with the latest tracks from the commercial and alternative music scenes.
Chinese New Year Festival
With over 10,000 residents in Melbourne speaking a Chinese language at home, it is no wonder that the annual Chinese New Year Festival attracts thousands of exhilarated festivalgoers, who come to celebrate the dawn of a new year. With colorful floats, dancing and singing from Chinese Opera to karaoke, the Chinese New Year Festival offers an eclectic mix of Chinese culture. With attractions for young and old, visitors can enjoy stage performances, numerous culinary stalls, calligraphy demonstrations and lion dances, all culminating in an anticipated countdown to the New Year.
Moomba Waterfest
Melbourne’s biggest and brightest annual event, with a hearty tradition of free family fun, pays tribute to the important role water plays in citizen’s lives. Each year the program for the four-day fair grows bigger and better, with activities like open-air movie shows, giant sand sculptures, waterski and wakeboard championships, Dragon Boat races, the crazy ‘Birdman Rally’ and a spectacular fireworks display, to name but a few. Highlights are the Moomba Parade and the Waterfest Carnival.
Australian F1 Grand Prix
Motorsport fans have a real treat when it comes time for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at the superb modern Albert Park Lake circuit. The main race is the first on the annual Formula One schedule, and forms the centerpiece of four days of events from karting through all racing categories and off-track entertainment.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Visitors come to Melbourne from all over the world for a good laugh during the city’s International Comedy Festival, when the downtown precincts turn into a melee of mirth provided by comic artists in a feast of funny stand-up, theater, cabaret, street entertainment, art exhibitions, film and music. This is the only event of its kind in Australia, and one of the largest (and funniest) in the world, reflecting the city’s well-known comedy culture. For more information, email info@comedyfestival.com.au or call (0)3 9245 3700.
Melbourne Writers Festival
The Melbourne Writers Festival is city’s premier literary event, marking its 25th anniversary in 2010. Every year the festival draws together well known and talented writers, artists, thinkers and performers from around the world. There is generally something for every lover of good writing, with a wide range of genres covered, from novels to film, journalism to songwriting, comedy to cartooning, and even advertising and politics. The full program and bookings are available on the website.
Melbourne International Arts Festival
Melbourne’s International Arts Festival is recognized as a leader of its kind in the country, presenting unique national and international experiences of dance, theater, music, opera, and visual arts, most of it free and offered outdoors during October each year.
Melbourne Cup
Melbourne’s premier turf event is not just any old horse race. The annual Melbourne Cup has been variously billed as ‘the celebration that stops a nation’, and ‘Australia’s most famous Tuesday’. The race is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, and draws interest from elsewhere in the world besides Australia. The race was first run in 1861 and carries a proud tradition. It is the highlight of the four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival.
