All posts filed under: Lifestyle

Dominoes

Experience the thrill of thousands of breezeblock ‘dominoes’ falling one by one to create a moving sculpture, running through the city and unfolding over the course of a day. Along paths and promenades, through buildings and across plazas, the domino line will work it’s way through Melbourne. There’ll be over  7000 giant dominoes forming a 2km chain threading its way through historic and everyday parts of Melbourne. When: Saturday Feb 6 from 1pm. The Domino Fall will start from 5pm Where: Download the map here. 

Victorian Pride March – 2016

Representing The Swanston Hotel, Grand Mercure and Mercure Welcome Melbourne under the Accor Hotels banner – we participated in the Victorian Pride March, 2016 last Sunday. The theme this year – Marriage Equality. A small, but dedicated group of cool individuals – it was actually our first time marching as a team, but armed with enough rainbow flags to kit out a small army and some jumbo bubble wands, we rocked out to the sounds beats of JOY FM, and were even lucky enough to be marching behind My Pet Warehouse who brought along some gorgeous puppies (including a super-cool, giant Great Dane). And let’s be honest, puppies trump EVERYTHING! Accor Hotels are committed to celebrating Diversity in all shapes and forms and have recently submitted an open letter to publicly pledge support for Marriage Equality. As a company, Accor supports diversity and recognises the rights of it’s LGBTU employees to live and work, free of prejudice and discrimination.

Moonlight Cinemas Summer Shows

Australia’s favourite outdoor cinema, Moonlight Cinema have just released their tickets for the month of February and mong the line-up are three of this year’s standout biopics: Steve Jobs, Trumbo and Joy; as well as three advanced screenings of inspiring films based on real-life events: The Finest Hours, Concussion and The Lady In The Van. There’ll also be  advanced screenings of Hollywood’s biggest films Hail, Caesar! and Zoolander 2; alongside cult classics Clueless and The Rocky Horror Picture Show and all the latest blockbusters including  The Hateful Eight from Quentin Tarantino; Joy starring Jennifer Lawrence and The Revenant for Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar contending performance. For all the romantics, cult classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s will be returning on Valentine’s Day presented by Lindeman’s, who are providing everyone with  a free glass of sparkling on arrival. And if that’s not enough to get you booking, there’ll also be advanced Moonlight Cinema screenings including Michael Fassbender’s not to be missed performance as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston in a whole new light as Dalton Trumbo, in Trumbo.  When: Through to March 27, 2016 Where: Royal …

Get into the Swing of the Australian Open 2016

Melburnians love their sport. It’s one of the reasons visitors love our city. It’s summer. It’s January. It’s Melbourne’s Grand-Slam tennis event, the Australian Open, and in 2016, it’s bigger than ever. Sure it’s all about the tennis – the players, the scores, the tournament, the referees, the ball kids and the facilities (organisers claim the title of the world’s biggest Grand Slam footprint for the Australian open at 255, 739 square metres). Tournament attendees can experience new tech offerings from customised tennis emojis to a 360-degree video experience that puts you live on court. Australian Open 2016 – the event Who | 44 players – 285 male and 155 female players from 34 countries, including 45 Australian participants. What | The Australian Open is one of four Grand-Slam tennis events worldwide. It is the frist in each year’s calendar of events. The others are: the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Where | Melbourne Park – Rod laver, Margaret Court, Hisense Arena and grounds, Olympic Boulevard, Batman Avenue, Melbourne – gates open at 10am …

Ghost the Musical

Remember that pottery wheel scene between Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in Ghost? Did you know that it’s become the most famous love scene in movie history and this February you’ll be able to relive that scene (minus Demi & Patrick), live on stage at GHOST the Musical. After successful international seasons including London’s West End and Broadway – GHOST The Musical comes to Australia for the very first time. Based on the Oscar®-winning film of the same name, GHOST is the story of Sam and Molly, a young couple whose relationship takes a shocking turn after Sam’s untimely death. Trapped between this world and the next, Sam refuses to leave Molly when he learns she is in grave danger. Desperate to communicate with her, he turns to a storefront psychic, Oda Mae Brown, who helps him protect Molly and ultimately avenge his death. The supernatural power of love will explode onto the Melbourne stage from 5 February 2016 headed by ROB MILLS as ‘Sam Wheat’, JEMMA RIX as ‘Molly Jensen’ (Wicked fans will be overjoyed), …

So Frenchy So Chic in the Park

Last Sunday, the We Know Melbourne team escaped Melbourne for So Frenchy So Chic in the Park. Set in the beautiful gardens of Werribee Park, the day was filled with plenty of sunshine, cocktails, French music and plenty of joie de vivre. The park was filled with plenty of  umbrellas (for the much needed shade on the 31 degree day), food and drinks stalls, a Kerastase braid bar and gorgeous festival goers dressed so very chic. Of course, no French festival would be complete without plenty of parasols, champagne and cheese to purchase and proving most popular for the day the gelato and frozen yoghurt stall. The Lillet stall was by far our favourite and to cool off from the heat we couldn’t help but go back again and again for  the Rouge Obsession: Lillet Rouge, Capi Cranberry and a wedge of lime. The soundtrack to the festival included Moroccan singer, Hindi Zahra (our favourite), the twins from Brigitte, Lou Doillon (also a favourite) and Soviet Suprem to get the crowd dancing with their Balkan …

Slipping and Sliding at Slide the City

What could be more Australian than on a 30 degree plus, sunny Melbourne day than to throw on a pair of bathers and jump on a massive slip and slide through the city. Armed with post-Christmas tans and various blow up devices ranging from the standard issue tube, giant inflatable thongs, right through to super fashionable flamingos – hordes of people did just that last Sunday. The lines were long and the the food and shade was scarce, but overall, like any good slip and slide concocted in a mates backyard at a barbecue with a tarp, hose and a bottle of Morning Fresh, no one cared about the teething problems, everyone was there to have a great time – and they did. I kicked a guy in the chest by accident, rammed a small child because I couldn’t steer or stop, and fell on my face multiple times – and I had a blast. Slide the City hits Sydney next for some more crazy wet fun. For more details see: http://www.slidethecity.com.au/ We Know Melbourne tip: …

The Australian Open Fast Facts

Tennis Season is almost upon us! From January 18 -31st the best of the best tennis superstars will rally it out for the Grand Slam title at The Australian Open. To get you into the swing of it, here are some fun fast facts we bet you didn’t know : 1. Marius Copil sent the fastest serve of the tournament at 242 km/h in 2015. 2. Serena Williams served 88 aces, the highest in the women’s singles draw in 2015. 3. A record 55k sandwiches and baguettes were sold in 2014. 4. Over the duration of the 2015 tournament, there was a record 14.3m unique visitors to ausopen.com 5. 2014 saw record temperatures at the tournament, reaching 43.9°C (110°F). Almost 1,000 fans were treated for heat exhaustion and both Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Corline Wozniacki mentioned that their shoes and water bottles were beginning to melt at times. For more fast facts plus what makes it one of the most exciting events in the world of sport visit bit.ly/1T9CmLc. When: 18 – 31 January 2016. Where: Rod …

Melbourne Latin Summer Festival

Celebrate summer with passion at the Melbourne Latin Summer Festival this January 9th. This annual free event will showcase Latin American art, culture and entertainment including cuisine, art, music, nightlife, family entertainment and activities, as well as crafts, jewellery and fashion stalls. Dance along to Latin music styles including salsa, reggaeton, cumbia and bachata or stand back and enjoy the  circus-inspired roving performances. In between dancing try all sorts of Latin street foods from Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. When: 12pm – 9pm,  January 9. Where: Federation Square Visit the website here. Want to find out more about what’s happening in Melbourne? Sign up to the We Know Melbourne mailing list here to stay in the loop.

Cats the Musical

Following its triumphant season in London’s West End, the acclaimed revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking musical CATS has arrived in Melbourne for a strictly limited season. The hit revival, which was reworked for the most recent season in the West End by the original creative team—Director Trevor Nunn, Choreographer & Associate Director Gillian Lynne, Set Designer John Napier and Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber—received excellent reviews and extended its season due to overwhelming demand. Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the show is set in a larger than-life junkyard playground and is alive with our favourite feline characters including Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees, Macavity, Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Grizabella and Skimbleshanks. The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year – the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories for the amusement of Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new …