Australia travel: Melbourne’s best events for 2023

With a harrowing nine-month Covid-19 lockdown firmly behind it, the city of Melbourne is stepping out and stepping up as a major player when it comes to events. From key sports fixtures to alluring art exhibitions and intimate concerts with mega-famous musicians star-studding its already enviable arts, culture, and hospitality scene, a getaway to Melbourne will overflow your cup, as I discovered on a thrillingly jam-packed week spent there recently.

Sporting chance

I touched down in Melbourne on the eve of the city’s perennially paramount fixture, the Melbourne Cup Carnival. But wait, there’s more . . . the men’s T20 World Cup was in town and the city was abuzz with rival fans in high spirits. Many match days boasted doubleheaders, and there had been a few upsets to keep things extra exciting, like Ireland tipping the balance in a rain-hit game against England a few days earlier. Something about the fighting underdog spirit seemed to still be in the air when I rocked up at the MCG for England v Australia. The weather was not playing ball so neither was anyone else, but as the ground inspections turned up a postponement and then a cancellation, the crowd didn’t look glum at all as they filtered off into the Friday night city, on to the next possibility. Which is one of the beauties of sport in Melbourne, if your event’s at the MCG, a smorgasbord of restaurants and bars is yours to choose from before and after, with the city a short tram ride or easy walk.

Of course with the events that make up The Melbourne Cup, the partying around the races is, for many, as much the focus as what happens on the course. It was my first time at Flemington but on a wildly wet day (the coldest Cup Day in three decades), I didn’t even step a heeled foot on grass because the situation in the various marquees was so comfortable. At the decadently decked-out Villa Paradiso marquee, a seven-course meal was prepared by chef Clinton McIver of city restaurant Amaru, while over at the Lexus tent, a trolley service by Koi Dessert Bar was a highlight. Flowing champagne, and top-notch staff were the backdrop to a carousel of stylishly dressed humans at what was, for me, an event all about the people-watching.

Big on the calendar this year includes the Australian Open (on now until Jan 29), the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (March 30, and six fixtures in the Fifa Women’s World Cup (from July 20-August 20).

The MCG is just one of Melbourne's great sporting venues. Photo / Supplied

Art everywhere

If you like a deadline, circle April in your 2023 calendar and make it your mission to get to Melbourne before then. Alexander McQueen: Mid, Mythos, Muse at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is a biggie: the NGV’s world-class collection of the fashion designer’s pieces is joined by additional pieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. NGV media manager Penny France says the collections have been woven into an immersive experience, with unique input by some of McQueen’s closest collaborators through his sadly brief, but remarkable, career, including prolific backstage photographer Robert Fairer. The exhibition opened in December and runs until April. Also at NGV now is Temple of Boom, which sees a duo of architects reimagining Athens’ Parthenon in the courtyard behind the gallery.

The Widows of Culloden collection by Alexander McQueen, autumn-winter 2006-07. Photo / Robert Fairer, © Alexander McQueen

Time: Rone opened at the end of October and on my visit, boasted the artist himself (Tryone Wright) on site greeting visitors (even though it was his birthday – nice one, Rone.). First rising to fame as a street artist, his repertoire expanded to incorporate elements of mural art into large-scale immersive installations – and Time is the biggest yet. Rone’s work on the project far predates his work on Time; the artist spent years campaigning to be able to utilise the derelict third-floor wing above Flinders Street Station – formerly used as a ballroom. Rone and his team got access to the site only in July, and spent the next few months full-bore installing the 12 lifesize scenes. Each is presided over by a portrait with the same model with subtly different expressions (Rone’s muse, Teresa Oman), each space painstakingly designed and built to evoke emotions: a mail-sorting room, a sewing factory, a typist’s pool and its boss’ office, a classroom, an art class, a lofty library, an ivy-strangled glasshouse. Rone’s attention to both the big picture and the tiny detail is incredible.

Beginning work on the project several years ago, he taught himself to use complex 3D design software to initially create the spaces virtually, then went to work making many of the elements with a CNC machine – for example, the life-size library, with its staircases on wheels, was all manufactured, every part transported up the one small elevator. A team, including a talented set designer, has sourced a plethora of vintage items that lend tangible credibility to every room. A score composed for the exhibition plays out, subtly shifting from room to room, and every five minutes a trick of lighting makes it feel as though we, the visitors, are on a train travelling back in time through a tunnel. There’s an amazing sense of entering a time warp of sorts. It transports you to the mid-century when these spaces were busy with life, while at the same time feeling a world away - the cobwebs and patina evidence of no life having flourished here for decades. On until April 23, tickets (rone.art) are time-specific and selling fast.

Artist Rone (Tyrone Wright) with Anna King Shahab at his exhibition Time: Rone, now showing at Melbourne's Flinders Street Station. Photo / Supplied

History Lesson

After a century of being closed, the promenade on the dome of the city’s Royal Exhibition building is now seeing visitors ascending the stairs to perch at its base once more. Guided tours leave from the adjacent Melbourne Museum daily. One of the first things you notice when you’re up there is that the museum’s modern architecture cleverly mirrors that of the Exhibition building; wings sprawling on either side. The view offers a look at how the city’s architecture has evolved, with some directions almost appearing as though they would have done a century ago, and others vastly different.

Built to showcase the city of Melbourne in the era of Royal Exhibitions that toured the colonial world in 1880, the ground floor space here was also where Australia was declared a nation in 1901 – although, as our guide and the info boards touch on, while grand colonial structures and dates speak loudly, it’s important to listen closer, to also hear first peoples’ stories.

The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Photo / Eugene Hyland

Putting on a show

Stadium shows with audiences in the tens of thousands, pyrotechnics, acrobatics, and costume changes surely have an allure for some, but for anyone who dreams of seeing a favourite musician performing in a far more intimate setting, Melbourne has some good news. Promoters Always Live partners with the Victorian Government to host small-scale concerts with some of the world’s hottest acts.

Take Dua Lipa: the singer sold out mega-size gigs on an Australian tour that’s just finished, but she also did a side show at The Palais in Melbourne’s seaside St Kilda. Always Live presents an Intimate Audience with Dua Lipa saw the charmingly worn-round-the-edges Art Deco theatre filled to its 2800 capacity, everyone seated a stone’s throw to an arm’s reach from the stage. The seats didn’t get used; as soon as the lights came up and Dua and her dancers stalked onto the stage to perform Physical, the entire place was up dancing. She performed hit after hit – no ducking off for a single costume change – in a high-energy show that proved her voice is just as golden live. A few weeks later Always Live brought Nick Cave out to Hanging Rock for a gig, and earlier in the year the Foo Fighters, Billy Joel and Sampa the Great all delighted (smaller) crowds. Of course, these shows sell out quickly, so if it sounds like your schtick, register for alerts at alwayslive.com.au and if you get lucky, you can plan a Melbourne visit around your dream gig.

There’s also the city’s thriving theatre district to check out. Hamilton may have finished its run at the weekend but The Phantom of the Opera is on until February 18, The Mousetrap runs from February 17 to March 19, new musical & Juliet plays from February 26 to April 9, and Moulin Rouge the Musical premieres in August. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a permanent fixture on the city’s East End scene, with its own Google pin and all. The theatre district’s proximity to Chinatown makes for excellent pre and post-show chow.

For anyone who dreams of seeing a favourite musician - like Dua Lipa - performing in a far more intimate setting, Melbourne is the place to be. Photo / Michelle Grace Hunder

Stay

Staying at The W Melbourne is an event in itself. The rooms, common areas, restaurants and bars of this 2021 opening were designed with a generous dash of theatre including moody lighting to set the scene.

I love a good techie toilet, but this one took the cake: upon approach, the lid rises, the lights come on, the heated seat is ready to welcome you – it’s toilet party time! Subterranean bar Curious draws a queue after dark with its plush booths and cocoon-like interior secreting away groups, couples, and the odd single. Make time for dinner at Lollo, where celebrated chef Adam D’Sylva serves up hearty flavours that reflect his Italian-Indian heritage as well as myriad other cultural influences, making use of top local produce. My red duck curry (a huge portion big enough for two) was redolent with aromatics, just the right lick of chilli heat, and delicious roast duck legs. Big ups to the daytime team at Lollo, too, who plied me with very good oat-milk flatties.

CHECKLIST: MELBOURNE

GETTING THERE

Air New Zealand, Jetstar and Qantas fly direct from Auckland to Melbourne.

DETAILS

visitvictoria.com