45 things to do in Melbourne this week

It's the most wonderful time of the year for fashion fans — Melbourne Fashion Week is returning for a six days of sartorial heaven. This year, M/FW runways will pop up in unique and unexpected locations, including the rooftop pool deck at new CBD hotel Le Méridien, the Regent Theatre alongside Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the immersive art exhibition Connection at The Lume, an abandoned industrial garage, plus many more.

It’s time for a vamped season of sax in the city with the return of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) this October. Since 1998, MIJF has taken the underground above ground and celebrated the best of jazz culture by showcasing leading and emerging contemporary artists from home and abroad.

Whether you’re more partial to a lasagne-themed street party or an all-day music hop across dozens of venues, you can do both with the brand-new festival the Eighty-Six. Running from October 23 to 31, the festival will take over venues along High Street in Melbourne's northern suburbs, from Westgarth to Preston. All along the 86 tram route, theatres, record stores, bars, restaurants and bowls clubs will participate in what is touted as the largest party a tram line has ever thrown.

There are few voices more recognisable and beloved than that of Sir David Attenborough's. For decades now, the famous British biologist's dulcet tones have accompanied countless incredible documentaries showcasing the wonders of the planet we call home.  A new immersive audiovisual experience from BBC Earth will transport you inside one of those documentaries at the Melbourne Convention Centre this year. Stepping in, you'll be surrounded by massive multi-angle screens playing a documentary from one of BBC Studios' award-winning natural history series, Seven Worlds, One Planet.

Cameron Mackintosh’s award-winning production of Boublil and Schönberg’s Miss Saigon will hit Her Majesty's Theatre this October, in partnership with Opera Australia. Inspired by the 1904 opera Madama Butterfly – which Opera Australia brought back to Handa Opera on the Harbour in March to critical acclaim – Miss Saigon has become one of the most successful musicals in history since its premiere in London in 1989. The original Broadway production of Miss Saigon opened in 1991 and went on to play for nearly ten years.

Calling all sommelier wannabes – it's time to embrace your inner wine snob and indulge in a European vino exploration (minus the exxy overseas trip). While Melbourne has a plethora of wine bars to quaff fine drops, Coburg's Olivine Wine Bar is hosting monthly tastings for those who want to take their love of wine to the next level. The stylish bar is found deep within former Pentridge Prison's stone-walled B-division, with cells transformed into stylish yet comfortable nooks, perfect for sipping a glass (or several) of vino.

Experience the wonders of Aranda Country in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, through one hundred beatific watercolours at the free NGV exhibition Watercolour Country: 100 works from Hermannsburg. Running from October 27–April 14, 2024, at the Ian Potter Centre, the exhibition threads together watercolours made by Aranda, Western Aranda, Eastern Aranda and Kemarre/Loritja artists working in the Indigenous community of Ntaria/Hermannsburg across the generations. 

You may not talk anymore, but the singer-songwriter Charlie Puth still wants your attention. The Grammy-nominated singer and pied piper of catchy pop songs has announced he will embark on his first-ever Australian tour later this year. 

Produced by Live Nation, The Charlie Puth Presents The “Charlie” L Experience will kick off in Brisbane before arriving at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena to perform on October 29 and October 30. 

As the cost of living crisis grinds on and on, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the film title We’re Broke, My Lord! might be a biopic of your own life. Instead, it’s a big and beautiful samurai-themed comedy from director Tetsu Maeda. Opening the 27th Japanese Film Festival (JFF) proudly presented by The Japan Foundation, it’s adapted from the novel Daimyo Tousan by Jiro Asada and follows the misadventures of Koshiro (Ryunosuke Kamiki, who voiced Bô in Spirited Away).  

¡Ole! It’s time to don your frilliest dress as the critically acclaimed traditional flamenco show Authentic Flamenco is set to make its Melbourne/Naarm debut this October. In partnership with Fever and the Royal Opera of Madrid, Authentic Flamenco presents Paula Rodriguez will run for four nights only between October 20 and October 28 at Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre. 

Melbourne’s brimming with fabulous high tea experiences, but now there’s a new one you need to add to your rotation. Call your nan, your girlfriends, or whoever else it is you ferry along with you to fulfil your highest high tea fantasies, and get your names on the list right away.

The Melbourne Marriott Hotel on the corner of Exhibition and Lonsdale Street has announced an exquisite New York style high tea, designed to delight and bedazzle your taste buds all afternoon long. Perfect for two, the three-tied stand is offering a selection of cold and warm dishes, plus handmade pastries and desserts. 

The high tea will take place daily from noon to 3pm until the end of the year at the hotel’s signature restaurant, The Essence. Inspired by the hotel’s American roots, Marriott Melbourne’s head chef Swami Nanden is bringing Big Apple classics to the table and infusing them with a local Melbourne twist. Think traditional baked raspberry cheesecake, mac and cheese croquettes with sweet mustard pickle, mustard mayo, and mouthwatering pastrami and sauerkraut bagels. Swami has worked in some of the world’s most famous restaurants, Michelin-starred Benares Mayfair, Noma and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s. 

“It’s about creating delicious morsels that look and taste amazing,” Swami said. “So many people eat with their eyes – plus, we live in an Instagram age – which is why we’ve paid particular attention to detail and the aesthetic appearance of these dishes.”

Forget about exxy flights to NYC, because this dazzling array of savouries and sweets will take you there through taste. Other highlights on the menu include cucumber, avocado and cream cheese sangas on granary bread, Bahamian lobster sliders and melt-in-your-mouth chicken and leek pithivier pies. If you’re a sweet tooth, you’ll be all over the espresso martini cake, cereal milk panna cotta with cornflake crunch and mini choux pastry eclairs. 

And of course, a high tea isn’t a high tea without scones, so here you’ll be served them freshly baked with strawberry jam and fresh cream. The package also includes bottomless barista-brewed coffee and leaf tea, such as green tea with lychee and ginger, rose with French vanilla, Italian almond, peppermint and more. 

Per head, the experience costs $59 without alcohol, $70 if you’d like a tipple of King Valley prosecco, $75 for a glass of Yarra Valley Chandon Brut instead, or $79 for a fun New York-inspired cocktail. 

Ready to get your luxe Manhattan fix? Go to the website.

Pining for pastries? These are the best patisseries in Melbourne. And for more fun high tea experiences, check out our round-up of the city's best. 

If you're a fan of eating your way around the world, then there's a festival in Melbourne's Southeast that will be right up your alley. Global Foodie Fest kicks off on October 14, showcasing the food of a different culture each Saturday night across a month-long celebration of global culinary delights. 

Under the big top at Festival Park’s the Vault, it’s easy to feel nostalgic for childhood trips to the circus where you sat in awe of soaring acrobats and aerialists. However, once the action in Matador kicks off, it becomes clear that although there’s no shortage of performers hanging high, this spectacle is much spicier than your typical circus. Instead, we enter an alternate dimension where love (and sex) reign supreme and wearing red is pretty much compulsory. 

Australia’s own internationally recognised, poly-talented provocateur and piano man, Tim Minchin, is playing a handful of intimate, informal solo dates around the country this summer. Minchin will perform songs drawn from his “serious” 2020 studio album, Apart Together, from his musicals, Matilda and Groundhog Day, from his TV and film writing, and from his early songwriting days around the turn of the century. The set list will be fluid, the chat unplanned, and the vibe informal. 

After such an incredible World Cup campaign, the Matildas have brought football to the front of Australia’s collective consciousness. If you're not ready to shrug off the excitement and passion that the beautiful game brings, the good news is that you don’t have to. The league that every Matilda once played in is starting back up for the 2023/24 season and, with season passes cheaper than a new pair of cleats, there’s no excuse not to get behind the new generation of female footballers in the Liberty A-League.

Traversing time and space, Wurrdha Marra is a new exhibition celebrating the diversity of First Nations art and design. From October 12, the ground floor and foyer of the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia will become a dynamic and ever-changing exhibition space that displays masterpieces and never-before-shown works from the NGV’s First Nations collection.

‘Voulez-Vous’ a fabulous arvo filled with singalongs to classic tunes, yummy cocktails and the most fabulous drag queens? Who wouldn’t! Evie’s Disco Diner in Fitzroy is serving up drag lunch with Swedish flair, featuring all the hits of the iconic band ABBA. You’ll be treated to brunch and a show with ‘Dancing Queen(s)’ slaying all the ABBA hits like ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’, ‘SOS’ and many, many more. 

NGV’s fascinating new exhibition Photography: Real and Imagined is a breathtaking survey of the cultural institution’s vast photography collection. It highlights north of 270 works centuries by Australian and international artists across two centuries. But rather than settle for a straight-up showcase, NGV Senior Curator of Photography Susan van Wyk and her team have devised an intriguing concept for the show. The photographs presented either document our world the way it really is, or play fast and loose with the truth to imagine how it could be with illusion-boosted visual magic.

Calling all dancing queens, the jukebox musical to rival all jukebox musicals is voulez vous-ing its way back to Melbourne in October and November for a strictly limited season. You’d have to have lived under a rock since the mid-2010s not to have a passing awareness of Mamma Mia! Critics may be divided, but the 65 million tickets sold worldwide are a testament to the popularity of this smash-hit phenomenon – let alone the two box office smashing movies it inspired.

"So, you wanna go to a real party?" Well, now's your chance: a ship inspired by the 1997 blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is setting sail from Docklands this November. Dress in your finest Victorian attire and hop aboard the Victoria Star Boat, where you'll enjoy an evening of theatre, dancing, music and a sumptuous roving buffet dinner. Let your imagination run free while you dance wildly in the third-class cabin or sip Champagne in the finery of first-class, and recline with a cocktail in hand as a friend draws you like one of their French girls. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we're here to report that Elvis will officially be in the building when Elvis: A Musical Revolution takes over Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre from September 30. Brought to you by the team behind the saucy Cruel Intentions: the '90s Musical (awarded five stars by our critics), Elvis is set to feature dazzling choreography, incredible costumes and plentiful sing-along songs. 

Are you ready to be transported millions of years back in time, to when fearsome giant creatures roamed the Earth? If that’s a hearty yes, this is for you. Dinos Alive: An Immersive Experience is a brand new exhibition featuring more than 80 life-size and hyper-realistic dinosaurs – we’re talking velociraptors, pterodactyls and, of course, the mighty T-rex. In addition to moving animatronics, there will also be a virtual aquarium (where you can get up close with some truly terrifying monsters of the deep), VR technology, incredible installations and even an interactive area where kids can pretend to be paleontologists in search of dino bones.

Spring calls for road trips to the picturesque Yarra Valley, and this year there's no better pit stop than the granddaddy of all wineries, Domaine Chandon. The premium sparkling wine producer has launched a series of unique vino tastings just in time for the warmer months, designed to immerse you in the sophisticated world of top-tier bubbly. Set amidst the lush rolling hills and vines of Chandon's estate, you'll be treated to stunning panoramic views of the Yarra Valley, plus your choice of a curated tasting experience.

The beloved regional town of Bendigo will bask in the glow of the changing seasons with a massive, colourful festival in September. The annual celebration of spring called Bloom is celebrating its 20th year, bathing the town in colour with more than 50 events and experiences throughout the season. From idyllic gardens to cultural tours, foodie events and even a tram party, there's so much to explore during the festival.

Expect a magical night out at this cocktail bar popping up in Chinatown — not just metaphorically, but an actual magic-filled evening featuring a line-up of magician superstars direct from Japan. Stepping into the neon-lit Maho Magic Bar will whisk you away to Tokyo, with up-close-and-personal experiences with expert magicians alongside delicious cocktails. There's no stage for the performers here as the intimate show will take place right at your table, where you'll be just inches away from the bamboozling sleight-of-hand magic. 

The AFLW is back for an eighth season, which will run from September to December this year. The action kicks off on September 1 with reigning premiers Melbourne taking on Collingwood at Princes Park. The jam-packed first weekend will continue with a historic clash between Hawthorn and Essendon in Frankston. The season will be made up of ten rounds of home-and-away matches followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs, with the grand final scheduled for December 3. Tickets to all 10 rounds are on sale now online, with adult general admission a budget-friendly $10 and free entry for fans under 18. You can find a detailed schedule of the 2023 season here.

From two veritable Lego masterminds (and winners of the hit reality TV show competition) comes a unique and playful exhibition, combining intricate Lego creations with antique artefacts. Relics: A New World Rises is the latest exhibition at Melbourne Museum that combines large-scale LEGO creations with vintage treasures to create an innovative spectacle. 

All aboard the E.V. Nautilus for Love Lust Lost, the most expansive theatre show to ever take place in Melbourne. Prepare to descend into an underwater theatrical playground where a 360-degree immersive experience – held across three levels – will fuse spoken word, dance, circus and sound in a feast for the senses. 

Grab your besties and get ready to pivot your way down to the District Docklands, because everyone’s favourite '90s sitcom is setting up shop in Melbourne. The Friends Experience is making its Down Under debut on September 1, so you and your pals will soon be able to relive unforgettable moments from the show, for the ‘gram or just for the mems. 

A unique exhibition at the Immigration Museum highlights the voices of Australians with diverse racial backgrounds, documenting the experiences of mixed and multi-ethnic families alongside issues of culture and racism. Fam is a nuanced visual showcase that takes photographic portraits of 15 families and sets them against stories of their different lived experiences and perspectives, aiming to destigmatise conversations about race and family. 

Do you believe in freedom, beauty, truth and love? Yes? Good, because 'Moulin Rouge! The Musical' is making a spectacular return to the Regent Theatre on August 20. The Australian cast is led by Alinta Chidzey as Satine and Des Flanagan as Christian. The role of Moulin Rouge proprietor, Harold Zidler, will be filled by Simon Burke while the villainous Duke of Monroth is played by James Bryers. Tickets are now on sale via the website.

Who is conceptual art for, and who gets to make it? With a commitment to exploring the complexity of identity, championing the “other” and “blackening of the conceptual art canon”, artist Newell Harry might just alter your perception. Esperanto, the artist's largest solo project to date, is now open at the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), and it's the perfect calling card to prompt you to make the journey to visit the regional centre of Albury Wodonga and its striking art museum.

Scienceworks invites visitors to explore Earth and the cosmos with a series of after-hours and adults-only film screenings on the huge Planetarium dome, with a drink in hand. Every Friday night, those over 18 can explore the universe through immersive documentaries and wonder at the magic of the universe. You won’t go spacing out at these shows either, as they’re loaded with amazing visuals and stellar content.

Haven’t had a chance to check out Connection at the Lume yet? There’s still time to book a ticket before the next glowing exhibition rolls in. And while you’re at it, why not upgrade your visit with a three-course meal for two from renowned chef and Bundjalung man Mark Olive? Coined ‘Feast for the Senses’, a meal at Olive's beautiful dining pop-up, Mirri, is truly the most indulgent way to experience Connection.

Experience the sights and sounds of Australia’s First Nations artists like never before with Connection, the latest immersive experience at the Lume. Opening on June 23, get ready to step inside the iridescent world of First Peoples art and culture, displayed on a scale that needs to be seen to be believed. Spanning 3,000 square metres of gallery space, Connection will feature projections four storeys high and an awe-inspiring display of original art.

Whether you’re yet to grace restaurateur Chris Lucas’ opulent Society with a visit or you’re a die-hard dinnertime loyalist, it’s well worth a look in for a weekend lunch. From Friday to Sunday in the afternoons, the swish restaurant is hosting the Society Social, an extravagant multi-course affair featuring a generous array of savoury dishes and a roving dessert trolley to dazzle you at the end. 

What better way to hold a mirror up to society than with an exhibition of pictures reflecting our innermost thoughts and feelings? Mirror: New views on photography is a free exhibition at the State Library Victoria featuring 141 images from the photography collection that explores and expands on the meditative theme of ‘mirror’.

Lovers of the written word rejoice; a free exhibition over at the State Library Victoria is spotlighting the history of book design, production and illustration from the Middle Ages to the present day. World of the Book features more than 300 rare, remarkable, historically significant items in the State Collection, each unravelling a unique story from its pages. 

Have you ever wanted to walk the hallowed halls that once housed notorious criminals like Ned Kelly and Mark 'Chopper' Read? Well, soon you'll have your chance: the historic Pentridge Prison in Coburg is reopening for public tours from April 3, 2023.

Get ready to go on a journey through living light when Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium unveils its new interactive digital experience in mid-February. Marking the major attraction’s first foray into this ever-evolving art form, Submerged is inspired by the bioluminescent underwater world and will tell the story of the mysterious firefly squid (which emits a glowing blue light from its body) and other majestic ocean creatures. The exhibition will also explore magical locations such as a glittering shoreline in the midst of spawning season and a moonlit deep dive into the depths of the bioluminescent unknown.

This tour of Victoria’s most history-steeped seaport will take you through abandoned morgues and forgotten burial grounds, as well as streets once frequented by convicts and drunken sailors. These days though, these alleys are home to far more apparitions. Book via Lantern Ghost Tours.

If you were to ask almost any local what Melbourne is best known for, there’s a chance you’ll get a reference to its laneways. While a good number of Melbourne laneways are already filled with art, eateries, and hidden bars, there are a fair few that are lesser known and haven’t reached their full laneway potential, until now.

Catherine Martin's costumes from Baz Luhrmann's acclaimed movie Elvis have arrived at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, joining the exhibition Australians and Hollywood as a major drawcard. See the famous 'Aztec' jumpsuit that the King wears in his final concert that concludes the film; the pink woollen suit jacket he wears in at his breakthrough performance; the 'Blue Wheat' jumpsuit; and more costumes worn by star Austin Butler and other cast members.