All posts tagged: melbourne

Scandinavian Film Festival

Back for it’s second year, the Scandinavian Film Festival returns to Melbourne with a fantastic line-up of dramas, comedies and thrillers from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland. The festival will open with the hilarious and quirky Here is Harold: “A Norwegian road movie about a man who sets out to kidnap the founder of IKEA. For over 40 years, Harold has been running a successful business, “Lunde Furniture”. But this comes to an end when IKEA decides to open a new superstore right next door to his small furniture shop. In mounting anger and desperation, Harold wants revenge. He arms himself with a pistol and sets off for Älmhult, Sweden, in order to kidnap his Nemesis, the founder of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad. But unfortunately, Kamprad is quite happy to be kidnapped.” Don’t miss your chance to see the full repertoire of twenty-two features hand selected from the final titles at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. When: 9 July – 26 July 2015. Where: Palace Cinema Como; Palace Cinema Brighton Bay See the full program here.

Winter Night Markets

Published by We Know Melbourne

Returning for it’s fourth year, the Winter Night Market kicked off on Wednesday. Despite the extra chill in the air that night, the market still packed a crowd. Under the sheds there were a wide range of stalls from street food to craft and design, and of course mulled wine. It could of been the fact that the weather seemed extra cold that night, but the line up for food was never too long (unlike the summer markets) and there was always a seat available. Our favourite stalls of the night would have to be Smoke City Burners (for all the meat eaters), Little Mushroom Co (for the vegos) and of course the mulled wine stall. (We were too full to try the deep fried oreos from Taki’s Balls!). The Winter Night Market runs every Wednesday until August 26. Read more here.

Did somebody say chicken?

Published by We Know Melbourne

Your WKM team visit the hottest new venue in town where the humble chook is king! There’s an old adage in hospitality that you shouldn’t try and be all things to all people. Pick something that you are good at and work at perfecting that offering. In the case of Belleville, the hippest new Bar/Restaurant in town, that special offering is just one dish; rotisserie cooked chicken! The Belleville team are pretty serious when it comes to their chooks. They only use organic free range chickens and their giant rotisserie has been specially imported from Brazil. Ordering is easy, just choose a size (quarter, half or whole), choose a sauce (mild gravy, medium ginger and coriander, or hot ssamjang) and choose some sides. They also have a range of Asian influenced snacks that you can add to your meal. When the WKM team went there we decided to get a side dish to complement our deliciously flavoursome whole chicken so we ordered some extra chicken! Our side was spicy popcorn chicken nuggets with a delicious …

Infectious family fun at Strictly Ballroom

Published by We Know Melbourne

Strictly Ballroom tells the story of dancer-in-training since childhood, Scott Hastings as he faces the challenge of gaining acceptance for his creative dance steps in the competitive world of ballroom dancing. At heart, Strictly Ballroom provides audiences with an inspirational message—”a life lived in fear is alifehalf lived”—in the form of a romantic comedy. Scott (played by Thomas Lacey) joins with amateur dancer, Fran (Phoebe Panaretos), to beat the repressive nature of ballroom dancing and create acceptance for creativity and attitudes outside of Australian ‘norms’. Strictly Ballroom was first revealed in a stage play co-written by Baz Luhrmann and his fellow National Institute of the Dramatic Arts (NIDA) colleagues in 1984. The play received critical acclaim and Baz Luhrmann later transformed the story into a hugely popular film in 1992 that won many national and international awards and the hearts of audiences worldwide. If you loved the film, Strictly Ballroom, you’ll likely really enjoy the musical too. The show is full of all the great songs—Love is in the Air and Time After Time included. …

Celebrate Australia Day with our cultural guide!

Published by We Know Melbourne

Australia Day Parade Begins at Melbourne Town Hall and proceeds along Swanston St and St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Monday 26 January, 11am – 11:45am Swanston St will be tranformed this Australia Day into a wave of colour and movement in a proud display and celebration of our diverse multicultural communities. This year’s Australia Day Parade will include all the favourite traditional cultural and community groups as well as some new faces. In 2015, in recognition of the ANZAC Centenary, the Australia Day Parade will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of our ANZACs through the participation of their descendants. We will also be drawing special focus on the men and women who serve in our local communities across the state – our emergency service volunteers.www.australiaday.vic.gov.au Fireworks At 9:30pm the Australia Day fireworks will light up the sky over Victoria Harbour in a display to rival New Year’s Eve. The fireworks will be synchronised to a Nova soundtrack and will be visible from various locations around Victoria Harbour. Stay after the fireworks for entertainment on …

Summersalt Festival

Published by We Know Melbourne

Launching this year, the Summersalt Festival will celebrate the arts over five extraordinary summer weekends. This outdoor arts festival will take place across various locations from the city laneways and courtyards through to the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Malthouse Theatre. The event includes some of Melbourne’s leading arts organisations such as Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Victorian College of Arts, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and many more. Highlights include: GENTLE IS THE POWER “Choreographed by Chunky Move Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk, gentle is the power is an exploration of contained power. Created specifically for, and with, dancers James Vu Anh Pham and Niharika Senapati, gentle is the power merges Van Dijk’s physically challenging movement language with Pham and Senapati’s refined virtuosity.” NGV SUMMER SUNDAYS “Spend Sunday afternoons soaking up the sun in Melbourne’s best backyard – the NGV Garden.” Acts include British India DJs, I Oh You Djs, World’s End Press, Clubfeet DJs, Alpine and many more. THE GIANT OPERA DRESS UP BOX Dress yourself up in Opera Australia’s elaborate collection of costumes and take to the …

Your Fast Serve to the Australian Open

Published by We Know Melbourne

Melburnians love their sport—AFL Football, cricket, horse and car racing all contribute to Melbourne’s much-loved, sporting culture, but during the last two weeks of January each year, the sport of choice is tennis. Melbourne’s Grand-Slam tennis event is the Australian Open, which last year attracted a record 686,000 during the fortnight of play. Getting into the swing of it Whether you’re a ticket holder or a wannabe attendee, the We Know Melbourne team will give you the perfect serve of tennis news, insider tips, and knowledge so you can get your tennis fix, even if you don’t have a ticket to the event. Australian Open 2015—the event Who | Thirty-two seeded men’s players drawn from 21 countries and 32 seeded women from 18 countries, 49 Australian players. In total, 524 players—289 male and 235 female. What | The Australian Open is one of four Grand-Slam tennis events worldwide. It is the first in each year’s calendar of events. The others are: the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Where | Melbourne Olympic Park—Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Hisense Arenas …

Melbourne’s Original Escape Room

Published by We Know Melbourne

This week I finally got to experience Melbourne’s original Escape Room and let me say it was definitely worth the 3 month wait to secure a booking! Escape rooms apparently originated in Japan, but it was in Budapest that Melbourne’s escape room founder, Owen Spears fell in love with the concept. Legend has it that Owen and his partner (both psychiatrists) were so enamoured with the escape room experience that they visited 6 different rooms in the Hungarian capital in a single day. They then decided to bring the concept back to Melbourne. It was certainly humble beginnings for their plan, with Melbourne’s first escape room being set up in a bungalow at the back of Owen’s mum’s house in suburban Flemington. However their idea caught on with adventurous Melbournians and this original escape room is now booked out for three months in advance and Owen is about to open his third location. In addition many imitators have latched on to Owen’s original idea so that you can now visit escape rooms all over Melbourne, …

The Grand Hotel: Old World Exterior, Contemporary Styled Interior

Published by We Know Melbourne

Written by guest blogger, Little Miss Melbourne. Standing proud on the cusp of Melbourne CBD and the Docklands, consuming an entire block from Flinders Street up to Collins, the Grand Hotel Melbourne is, well, grand. This splendid heritage-listed building originally built in the 1880’s today offers four and a half star accommodation with studio and loft-style one and two bedroom hotel apartments. It’s an exciting time for the Grand Hotel Melbourne, too, with a recent refurbishment to their generous, classic rooms. While the hotel continues to ooze old world charm and sophistication, the hotel has done an excellent job with bringing the historic building forward, yet again, into the current day. Location Just a three minute walk to Southern Cross Station, the hotel is literally on the door step to Melbourne’s many offerings including Crown Casino, Etihad Stadium, Docklands, Melbourne Aquarium, DFO South Wharf and Southbank. Stroll into town or use the free City Circle tram just outside the hotel to explore the city and all which it is famous for from shopping to coffee, …

SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium

Published by We Know Melbourne

Written by guest blogger, Gastrology. Since opening to the public back in 2000, SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium (then known as Melbourne Aquarium) has become one of the top attractions in Melbourne. We were taken on an awe-inspiring journey through 12 amazing zones of discovery at the newly revamped SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium which is conveniently located in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. Home to thousands of aquatic animals, including one of the world’s largest Saltwater Crocodiles and the world’s largest collection of seahorses and seadragons, visitors are given the opportunity to discover an interactive adventure from the depths of the ocean to the icy waters of Antarctica. At the Croc Lair, we met Pinjarra, one of the biggest Saltwater Crocodiles in the world! Home to the world’s only display of Elephant Sharks, we encountered some of these graceful marine creatures that ordinarily reside well out of eye-sight, 200 metres below sea level. The crawl-through heads up display provides the perfect opportunity for kids to peek into the fascinating underwater world of Port Phillip Bay. We got our hands wet and …