TODO
Here are summer’s highlights around Melbourne
DECEMBER Queen Victoria Market Summer Night Market
Wednesday night in Melbourne means one thing in summertime: the Queen Victoria Market’s Summer Night Market. This year there are new street food stalls as well as returning favourites, and plenty of festival bars to quench your thirst. As always, live music plays until closing time, and there are fashion, homewares, gift and other stalls set up for your shopping pleasure. Our top tip: if you manage to score a table, guard it with your life. They are a precious commodity. àqueen Victoria Market, Queen St, Melbourne 3000. 03 9320 5822. qvm.com.au. Wed 5-10pm. Free. Until Mar 11.
Sunset Safari at Werribee Open Range Zoo
Did you know many African animals are most active at dusk? You’ll get a chance to see Werribee Open Range Zoo’s giraffes, rhinoceroses, elands, zebras, hippos and more during the zoo’s Sunset Safari series. You’ll take part in an African drumming and dancing performance, enjoy an African feast, then head out on a wondrous safari out in the 45-hectare open savannah section of the zoo. Proceeds from the night go to the Rhino Fund Uganda. àwerribee Open Range Zoo, K Rd, Werribee South 3030. 1300 966 784. zoo.org.au/werribee.
Sat, Sun 6-9pm. $98
$109. Until Mar 8.
Australian Tattoo Expo
Melbourne loves its tattoos.
If you’re one of the thousands of inked Melburnians (or you’re thinking about taking the plunge), check out the Australian Tattoo Expo. For three days the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is hosting more than 300 tattoo artists from Australia and across the world displaying their art and doing some live tattooing. Head along for inspo or get that sleeve you’ve always dreamed of. àmelbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Convention Centre Pl, South Wharf 3006. 03 9235 8000. tattooexpo.com.au. Fri, Sat 10am-10pm; Sun 10am-6pm. $25-$70. Dec 6-8.
Christmas Gin Market
Gin-gle bells, gin-gle bells… Is there anyone on your Christmas list who would not be happier getting a bottle of Australianmade craft gin than yet another ugly pair of socks? If there is, you should probably stop being friends with that person, they sound like a bad influence. For everyone else, there’s the Christmas Gin Market, which is back for 2019 after a stellar first year. Some of Australia’s best craft producers, including Patient Wolf Gin, the Craft and Co, Bass and Flinders Distillery, Blind Tiger Gin, Tiny Bear Distillery and more will be on hand over the weekend so you can pick up a bottle (or two). Tickets are only $15, and they include free tastings plus a $5 market voucher to be used at any of the stalls. àcraft and Co, 390 Smith St, Collingwood 3066. 03 9417 4755. thecraftandco.com.au. Sat, Sun 11am-6pm. $15. Dec 7-8.
Home Alone in Concert with the MSO
Is it even Christmas if you don’t have your annual screening of Home Alone? Head along to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s special screening of the original film. The MSO will be conducted by Benjamin Northey and will be joined by a full choir to recreate the original score, composed by John Williams. àhamer Hall, 100 St Kilda Rd, Southbank 3004. 1300 182 183. mso.com.au. Fri 7.30pm; Sat 2pm. $59-$125. Dec 13-14.
Carols by Candlelight
Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight is coming for another glorious Christmas Eve celebration. All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards supporting children with little or no vision. Pack a picnic, and expect to hear all the Christmas classics belted out by the likes of David Campbell, Anthony Callea, Marina Prior and more. àsidney Myer Music Bowl, Kings Domain Gardens, Linlithgow Ave, Melbourne 3000. 1300 182 183. carols.visionaustralia.org. Gates 4pm; show 8pm. $48-$136. Tue Dec 24.
JANUARY Louis Theroux Without Limits
Theroux interviews marginalised, radical, unusual or aggressive people, putting himself in awkward and dangerous situations.
He will be accompanied on stage by Megan Phelps-roper, a former member of the infamous hate organisation and US religious group Westboro Baptist Church. Phelps-roper was a central figure in Theroux’s shocking 2007 documentary The Most Hated Family in America and will also feature in Theroux’s upcoming film, Surviving America’s Most Hated Family. àmelbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Convention Centre Pl, South Wharf 3006. 03 9235 8000. louistherouxliveonstage.com. 1pm & 6pm. $100-$305. Sun Jan 19.
Australian Open
Every year, thousands head to Melbourne Park to watch the superstars of tennis battle it out in the fierce summer heat. Despite the heatwaves that occur regularly during the event (temperatures of 35° or higher are common), the Australian Open continues to attract the world’s best tennis players and their fans for the southern hemisphere’s only Grand Slam tournament. Even if you don’t make it into the arena, Birrarung Marr will buzz with live entertainment and food stalls at the Australian Open Festival, where live screenings of matches will be played on big screens. The AO Live Stage will also feature live performances by some homegrown acts. àrod Laver Arena, Batman Ave & Olympic Blvd, Melbourne 3000. 1300 308 999. ausopen.com. Daily 10am. $49-$900. Jan 20-Feb 2.
FEBRUARY Mini Mega Model Exhibition
Ever wonder what it would be like to be Alice and eat something to become huge, or drink something to become tiny? Find out at Melbourne Museum’s Mini Mega Model Museum, which plays with scale in more than 300 objects displayed in tiny and oversized galleries. There are model specimens to examine, hyperrealistic wax food in the life-sized cafeteria and a furnished minimansion to pore over. àmelbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton 3053. 03 8341 7777. museumsvictoria.com.au. Daily 10am-5pm. Free with museu entry ($0-$15). Until Aug 21.
Jonathan Van Ness
If Antoni is the pretty face of Netflix’s Queer Eye, Bobby is the workhorse, Tan is the French tuck and Karamo is the bomber jacket/dodgers cap combo, then Jonathan Van Ness is the heart. The grooming expert delivers far more than a haircut and a skincare regime, digging into his own prodigious self-confidence to convince each subject that they are more than capable of finding
Find more summer events online at timeout.com/melbourne their inner fabulous. Van Ness is headed to Australia for an evening of positivity, self-love and maybe even a gymnastic move or two. He’s calling the tour Road to Beijing, as he’s hoping to lift his figure skating game enough to represent the US in the winter Olympics. àmelbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Convention Pl, South Wharf 3006. tegdainty.com. Sat 7pm. $168-$370. Sat Feb 22.