Melbourne is a real show-off when it comes to festivals. Name your most obscure interest and this city will answer with a festival, parade or some sort of shindig.
The exhaustive calendar of events starts in summer, which delivers outdoor theatre, Carols by Candlelight, cricket at the MCG, the Australian Open tennis championship, the St Kilda Festival, the Victoria Street Lunar Festival, Chinese New Year celebrations and the three-week-long gay and lesbian Midsumma Festival. Autumn features the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, the Moomba Family Festival, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the Greek Antipodes Festival, the start of the football season, the International Flower and Garden Show and the International Comedy Festival.
Winter launches its anti-hibernation attack with football, the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Melbourne Writers' Festival. Spring sees the football finals (phew), Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Royal Melbourne Show, Oktoberfest, Spring Racing Carnival (including the Melbourne Cup), Italian Lygon St Festa and Hispanic Community Festival, all wrapping up just in time for the festive season. Are you ready to get going again?
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article by Katie Falkiner, November 2005
At 3.20pm, on the first Tuesday in November, Melbourne is silent; there's not a car on the road and the streets are deserted. Read the full article ›
Tags: Sports • Festivals & Events • Melbourne
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