All posts filed under: culture

Happy Chinese New Year

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Chinese new year is all about gathering with family, eating lots of delicious food, playing with firecrackers, buying new clothes and the giving and receiving of red envelopes. It is a time for families to be together. Melbourne offers you a 17 day Chinese New Year festival with activities located from Queensbridge Square, Queen Victoria Market, Chinatown, the Chinese Museum, Melbourne Zoo, Eureka Skydeck and Southgate, through to Docklands and DFO South Wharf. Things you can do while staying with us at The Swanston Grand Mercure and Mercure Welcome – Experience “God of Prosperity’s visit” at Emporium Melbourne Enjoy a Chinese New Year’s Eve Feast sponsored by Secret Kitchen, located at the corners of Exhibition and Little Bourke Street. Be memorized by the dragons at the Dragon Parade Day throughout Chinatown on 29th of Jan, Sunday. Buy a lantern and hang it on The Lantern Wishing Tree at Cohen Place Watch Asian short films, also at Cohen Place For more activities and festival info visit http://www.cnymelbourne.com.au/home/ http://melbournechinesenewyear.com

West End Art Park

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Stop by for a free event full of vibrant celebration of urban artwork at the West End Art Park. Artist Georgia Hill, Phibs, George Rose and Ken Taylor with transform the old site of the Melbourne Australia Post Mail Centre into a spectacular urban gallery showcasing their aesthetically unique techniques and styles. George Rose will also be hosting exclusive lettering workshops, providing valuable insights for aspiring artist. In addition, live music will be provided by DJ Django on the decks followed by some soothing jazz sets. Local food vans will appease the crowds’ appetite including Gorilla Grill and The Grace Caravan. Audience will also find refuge in the shaded lounge areas where they can create their own urban artwork through interactive art zones, all while sitting back and soaking up the atmosphere. For further information, click here When: 12pm – 4pm Sunday 10th December 16 Where: Trenerry Property’s West End site, 185 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne

Binge on Musical Theatre

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Inspired by the event of the same name in New York, and launched for the first time in November by founder and Artistic Director Trevor Alexander and the fabulous Dolly Diamond – the first ever Melbourne Musical Theatre Festival will be kicking off in Melbourne this January with a line up set to make everyone fall in love with musical theatre all over again. Priced for a serious musical theatre binge with tickets ranging from only $25-$69 this event, celebrating local performers, writers and producers will feature a classic line-up of well-loved family musical favourites, timeless adult productions and new Australian shows and will run from January 6th through to the 28th making it a fantastic (and super affordable) school holiday activity. Based out of the historic, iconic Athenaeum Theatre in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, the festival’s ethos is all about reigniting a passion for the genre in the youth market, but the ranges of shows are not all targeted at the young (and young at heart). Kicking off the festivities, and running for …

Markit@Fedsquare

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Save the date on the 11th of December for Markit@Fedsquare! It is a one-day event with over 100 unique independent designers and makers held at Federation Square. You can buy quirky ceramics  by Yiying Lee,  natural fibre shirts by APOM, or maybe some organic skincare by Ek-ho. So embrace yourself in the land of Australian creators on the 11th of December because you deserve beautifully designed jewellery, fashion, accessories, homewares, prints and more!                       It’s free entry from 10am to 5pm, and many of the stall holders have credit card and Eftpos facilities. However, we do recommend you get some cash withdrawals at the nearby ATM. Markit@Fedsquare will have one lucky draw for one market goer with fabulous prizes to take home on Sunday. Find out how to enter on here. P.S All Day Donuts and Sensory Lab will be joining the event in the Deakin Edge Theatre serving coffee and sweet treats, ALL DAY! Find out which designer will be there on the day on …

Fringe Review: ApocOlympics

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Set in a post-apocalyptic world, where basic human needs like clean water, non-radioactive cruise ship holidays and steel may or may not still be available, and the simple act of going to work to build a sporting stadium comes with the risk of being carried off by mutant crows, ApocOlympics is smart humour for witty, intelligent people, brought to you by the fabulous comedy partnership of Dan Pavavitch and Justin Porter. The concept of an Olympics that far into the future having been re-adapted for the conditions of the modern environment, and the mutations of man is made even more absurd as the actual events over time have themselves evolved to the point of non-recognition and even fight-to-the-death level, making for some dark, but fantastic jokes. This show is a groovy, multi-layered-style sketch which coils tighter and tighter around a core central storyline, eventually funnelling out into that point where everything becomes linked for a clear, clean close off where things basically pick up where they began – for the most part. Dan and Justin …

Fringe Review: It’s my funeral & I’ll throw glitter if I want to

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As an independent woman, taking charge of one of the most significant, and well let’s face it, last, major events of one’s life is a pretty huge, albeit important task. So, ‘after a (tiny) mental breakdown, Isobel Marmion decided to throw her own funeral (fancy dress and lots of glitter) rather than wait for her untimely and obviously impending death from one of the many illnesses she’s currently suffering from…’ which she goes on to list at the start of her aptly-named show. Pre-show we are warned to brace ourselves for what is described as an ‘intimate look at mental illness and the fear of dying alone, but in an uplifting, funny way’ – this was delivered loosely wrapped around what comes across as an intimate 50 minute long confessional. From this description, and as the show unfolded in front of us, it became clear that it was less about the funeral, and more so about Isobel’s very real struggle with mental illness – balancing bipolar disorder in a society which demands high function, something …

Fringe Review: CULL

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This show is self-described as a ‘trashy, David Lynchian, wet nightmare sketch show about deleting your Facebook friends and the absurdity of social media’ and yep, that just about fits the bill perfectly. Cull is dark, dark humour. The kind that comes fresh from a deep well of millennial cynicism, finally jaded enough to burst the social media bubble of perfection. Duo Honor Wolff and Patrick Durnam Silva have a pretty cool groove going on, even if at times it’s a little rough around the edges, it’s funny. We laughed the whole time. This show in short, is dark, but fun. Honor and Patrick have almost too much intensity between them, but it’s necessary to lift the audience out of the dark content, back into their very fabulous balance with high-energy cray. The best part of Cull is the enjoyment taken from poking delicious fun at the ‘Cute Cats of Instagram’, the ‘Fitspo’ tools who do anything but inspire the average punter, ‘awareness challenges’ and a physically awkward look at the people who are socially …

Melbourne Festival

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Melbourne Festival is an innovative festival highlighting the rich culture of the arts that exist within the Melbourne lifestyle. Watch various performances of dance, theatre, circus, music, visual arts, multimedia,  as well as free outdoor events will be held across several venues across the city. First established in 1986, the festival was created to carry the transformational nature that exists within arts and culture and the positive change it has on individuals.   Highlights this year include David Bowie: Nothing has changed | October 15 – 17 Paying tribute to the starman, musical artists will perform his music in their own unique styles, accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. M Pavillion | October 5 – February 18 Commissioning a world-leading architect to design a temporary garden pavilion for Melbourne, this year’s space is designed by influential Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. Watch a free program of talks, performances, debates in this unique experimental space. Program released September. Triptyque | October 6 – 9 Canada’s Les 7 Doigts (The 7 Fingers) straddle the gap between circus and dance …