Make the most of Melbourne's best events in 2023. Photo / Visit Victoria
Melbourne is a never-ending carousel of international sport, global cuisine, show-stopping musicals and awe-inspiring events. And that’s before we get to the shopping and the coffee.
Here are some of the major attractions luring Kiwis and locals into the Victorian capital in the coming months. Some - we didn’t have space for all of them.
SPORT
There’s no doubt about the biggest high-octane event on the sporting calendar: the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, which races around the lakes and cycle paths of Albert Park, only 3km from the heart of the city. The speeding bullets can reach 340km/h, slightly faster than the park’s usual dog walkers.
Held over four days and boasting just about every way of racing an internal combustion engine, Melbourne has hosted the carnival since 1996. Previously it’s been the opening event on the global circuit but an expanded programme sees it come in fourth this year, from March 30-April 2.
As well as the big names of Netflix’s Drive to Survive – superstars like Lewis Hamilton and reigning champion Max Verstappen – Aussies will be barracking for local boy Oscar Piastri, making his F1 debut with McLaren (a Kiwi team, just saying).
New Zealand’s petrolhead heroes are putting their foot down too, mostly in the Supercars championship race on the Thursday afternoon.
There’s more than motorsport, however – the event is backed up with concerts and off-track entertainment, including stalls offering some of the best of Melbourne’s coffee, food and cocktails.
Most Kiwi sports fans don’t need reminding there’s non-stop, year-round action across all codes in Victoria’s capital, and one of the great attractions is that all major venues are a short tram ride or an easy walk from the city centre.
There can’t be too many places in the world where you can watch an Ashes test, Bledisloe Cup match, World Cup football, Grand Slam tennis tournament, State of Origin game or F1 Grand Prix – and be back in your hotel room, bar or favourite restaurant before the post-match interviews have concluded.
So, a quick rundown of some 2023 highlights.
You shouldn’t miss the chance to encounter the unique tribal ritual of AFL, played out before baying crowds of 100,000 in “The G” – the ginormous Melbourne Cricket Ground - throughout winter. These days, they do let teams from other states play and they’ve changed the name from Aussie Rules, even though there aren’t any; it’s a tremendous spectacle.
The All Blacks come to town on July 29 for the first Bledisloe Cup test (only two this year); Aotearoa and Australia host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July-August and the Rectangular Stadium (can’t call it AAMI Park but you know where we mean) will host six matches.
Just about everyone on this side of the planet knows what “the first Tuesday in November” means: Melbourne Cup day. The spring racing carnival is a city-wide… shall we settle for celebration?... of glamour, celebrity, fashion, high-socialising and partying briefly interrupted by an international horse race.
The G returns to its traditional code for the Boxing Day test, beginning on December 26. This year, the Baggy Greens take on the enigmatic but always dangerous Pakistan XI.
And before you know it, we’re into January, which can only mean the Australian Open, watching the world’s finest tennis players, wining and dining courtside – or from Fed Square where key matches are played on a big screen, for free.
SHOWS
Shopping and a show in Melbourne have long been one of Kiwis’ favourite ways to spend a long weekend. Good news: the shopping is as good as ever, if not better, and there are a score of new musicals around the city in the next few months.
Headline act is Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which returns in August. Inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s much-loved movie and showcasing 70 songs, the glitzy show set in the Parisian nightclub will run at the Regent Theatre until November. Expect many of the tunes from the movie with more from Adele, Katy Perry and Beyonce; bold musical numbers and in-your-face extravagance, all set to dazzling choreography.
Will Shakespeare also gets a remix in & Juliet, a feel-good musical featuring tunes from Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, The Weeknd and Kelly Clarkson penned by the writer of Netflix’s Schitt’s Creek, David West Read (also at the Regent, until May 14), and The Rocky Horror Show crawls out of the crypt in May-June.
For the kids, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been a permanent fixture – well, permanent until July 9; Midnight: The Musical, loosely based on the Cinderella story, turns up around school holiday time in June-July; as does Queensland’s leading contribution to world literature, Mary Poppins.
Those who prefer more intimate shows should keep an eye on the Always Live site. These promoters partner with the Victorian Government to host small-scale concerts with top acts in unusual or overlooked venues. Recent shows have featured Dua Lipa, the Foo Fighters, Billy Joel, and taking Nick Cave out to the Hanging Rock geological mount.
FESTIVALS
Every year Australia’s capital of cuisine pulls on its stretchy pants for one of the world’s biggest and best events, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
From March 24-April 2, this year’s programme features more than 150 events. The Signature Chef series sees a kitchen-full of acclaimed cooks flying in from New York, Kyoto, London and Chiang Mai for rockstar shifts at the city’s restaurants, including Curtis Stone from lauded LA eatery Gwen and Yoshihiro Imai from Monk, Kyoto (seen in Chef’s Table on Netflix). There’s a free festival hub in Fed Square, the Crawl and Bite and Westside Wanders series throw the spotlight on suburban hotspots, while the famous or infamous The World’s Longest Lunch has a new sibling, The World’s Longest Brunch, at the Treasury Gardens.
Amalgamating the city’s former International Arts and White Night festivals, Rising Festival (June 7-18) celebrates “music, food, art and culture, under moonlight, in the heart of Naarm (Melbourne)”.
Unlike conventional arts events, the 12-night Rising is “a festival that you do. The invitation to the public is not just to bear witness to great art,” organisers say, “but also to really get directly involved.” Like joining Melbourne composer Ciaran Frame, who will invite all-comers to join him in playing 10,000 biodegradable kazoos in a “howling, drone moment” with no rehearsal or musical ability required in Fed Square.
For those jetting off imminently, pop these two must-see exhibitions on your April agenda.
Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse; National Gallery of Victoria until April 16.
Dazzling outfits drawing inspiration from Roman gladiators to Scottish history are displayed in the NGV-LA County Museum of Art tribute to McQueen, the British designer who died in 2010. More than 120 garments, accessories and artworks are woven into an immersive experience with input from some of McQueen’s closest collaborators, including backstage photographer Robert Fairer.
Time: Rone; Flinders St Station until April 23
Melbourne street artist Rone spent years campaigning to use the derelict third-floor wing above the central railway hub, formerly a ballroom. You’ll walk through several rooms, each with a different theme, glimpses of mid-century working-class life in the city: a mail sorting room, sewing factory, typing pool and its boss’ office, classroom, art class, library, glasshouse. Painstakingly created from 3D images, speckled with vintage items, with background music and stunning murals adding a haunting feeling to a surreal exhibition.
For more things to see and do in Melbourne this year, see visitmelbourne.com
'We can make three days feel like a week,' one expert said.