What's happening in Melbourne
The best things to do this week
Learn to paint while enjoying a cocktail or three at Melbourne's fairytale-themed bar
The ACO is celebrating three indie musicians and the Polish classical composers that inspired them
The Emerging Writers Festival announces a talented-filled program
Four women meet to reminisce – and look to a terrifying future – in this surprising play from leading playwright Caryl Churchill
The latest news
Competitions and announcements
Do you like your bagels plain or seeded? Maybe you think bagels should only have some Philly cream cheese or perhaps you prefer yours topped with smoked salmon and dill? We want you to have your say at the Time Out Battle of the Bagel, presented by Philadelphia cream cheese. At the Battle of the Bagel, four bagel makers will go head to head on Saturday, August 3 in Abbotsford cafe AU79. Bagel makers from 5 and Dime, Mile End Bagels, Bowery to Williamsburg and Au79 will come with their tried-and-tested bagel recipe, and the tastiest combination will take home the crown. No idea is off limits, as long as the bagel creation features Philly cream cheese! Who gets to decide the winning bagel? You do. Battle attendees will not only get to taste bagels from Melbourne’s top shops, they’ll also get to vote for their favourite. So if you fancy yourself a bit of a bagel connoisseur, enter this competition to win one of 30 double passes up for grabs. It’s easy: all you need to do is tell us how you like to eat your Philadelphia cream cheese. Got a secret recipe? Tell us below by Thursday, July 25. Aside from the competing bagels, Battle of the Bagel guests will get to feast on the Philly grazing station which features cupcakes with Philly cream cheese icing. To keep you hydrated, we’ll be serving coffee, Mimosas, Spritzes and kombucha, just to name a few. It’s all happening at AU79 on August 3. Enter now
MLIVE is reinventing the piano recital with their event series Wood, Metal and Vibrating Air, where four pianists from contemporary, classical or progressive backgrounds will give a performance from June 27 to September 26. After a successful run at the Robert Blackwood Hall, this year’s event will be at the newly opened Sound Gallery at the Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts at Monash University Clayton campus. This venue is a new 130-seat intimate space with incredible acoustics that will be on show through this series. On June 27, the first performance will be from acclaimed Japanese pianist Tomoe Kawabata. She is a champion of contemporary Japanese composers and will explore the links between the likes of Akio Yashiro, Akiro Miyoshi, and their European counterparts. Two Juilliard alumni will also be performing during the series. Australian pianist Benjamin Martin will move from Busoni to Bach and Beethoven on July 25, and US-born Elyane Laussade is rounding out the series on September 26. She will be uncovering forgotten masterpieces with her focus on Schubert’s final piano sonata, as well as paying homage to classics by Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninov. One of the more unconventional recitals in the series comes from local composer Luke Howard. He uses both multimedia performances and improvisation techniques while onstage to create a multi-sensory performance that he has toured all over the world. Catch him on August 22.
We're giving away the ultimate family winter break with an ace prize pack for two adults and two children
This winter school holidays, Melbourne's new Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts will be hosting a mini-festival for kids
From street art and hidden bars to scaring yourself silly, here are the best sightseeing tours in Melbourne
Going to the big match? Head to Riverland before or after for the perfect pre-game or after-footy fun
Time Out Melbourne magazine is now completely free. While newsagencies will no longer stock the quarterly magazine, you can pick up a copy at selected cafés, shops, entertainment venues and hotels around the city. In addition, friendly Time Out helpers will be handing out copies at major city train stations on the day of publication. You can pick up a copy of our Accessible Melbourne issue on Thursday, June 6 and Friday, June 7 between 6.30-10.30am at: Flinders Street Station Flagstaff Station Parliament Station Missed the last drop? You can read past issues of Time Out Melbourne magazine digitally through the links below:
The best of Melbourne
Wondering what to do in Melbourne? Take a look at our ultimate bucket list: 101 fun things to do in Melbourne, plus what makes the city great, from the food to the festivals and everything in between.
If you're looking for a break from the inner-city grid, there's no better cure than a day trip from Melbourne.
Behold, our eat-and-destroy list – a guide to Melbourne's best restaurants, from fine dining to cheap eats
Book in for the best Melbourne shows with our guide to new and upcoming theatre in Melbourne. Our theatre critics recommend the best shows to see right now, as well as the most exciting upcoming shows in Melbourne. For more Melbourne theatre information, check out our latest reviews and our guide to scoring cheap theatre tickets.
From world-beating cocktail lounges to down-and-divey saloons, here's everywhere worth drinking in Melbourne
With so many cheap eats options in Melbourne, it's not hard to eat out without breaking the bank.
Stop and smell the flowers at these unsung gardens around Melbourne
Expert tips for exploring the city's best attractions for zero dollars
When you think Melbourne, some of the words that come to mind surely must be 'coffee', 'laneways' and 'street art'. Street art covers almost every nook and cranny of our creative, colourful city, but there are more highly concentrated clusters than others. These are the street art hotspots that any self-respecting 'grammer should be snapping: the city's ten best street mural hotspots, in all their spray-painted laneway glory. Continue your art journey through Melbourne at these free galleries, or purchase your very own piece of art at one of these weird and wonderful shops.
Melbourne area guides
The heart of the city, home to Chinatown and some of Melbourne's best restaurants and arts institutions.
Inventive bars, geek girl boutiques and envelope-pushing eateries. Plus live music institutions.
Whether you are after great eats, a night out or a film at a Victorian-era cinema, Elsternwick is a great place to find yourself.
We should err on the side of caution when describing Williamstown as “greater Melbourne”. Not only will the locals love to tell you it’s only 20 minutes to the city (and no tolls!), but there’s a beach that’s accessible via public transport, a gorgeous pier to stroll down and stunning views towards the city and across Port Phillip Bay. As Melbourne's first seaport, Williamstown has swiftly developed into a trendy seaside suburb with a village feel. There are plenty of cafés and restaurants, you can hop on a bike and circle the water’s edge, or just find a quiet spot to sit and think about all the things you still have left to do. Looking for more fun in the west? Check out our guides to Footscray and Yarraville while you're here.
Exceptional Italian food, gelato and coffee, plus an excellent museum and theatre.
Kensington has northwest charm in spades: there are wide, tree-lined streets, plenty of public transport and green spaces aplenty.
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Once upon a time, there was the power lunch – a meal where high rollers took their wheeling and dealing out into restaurants around the city. The George on Collins has revamped the idea with a focus on the time it takes to get the most out of your meal in what they’re calling the Hour of Power. Designed to show off the flavour-packed creations of their new partner – MasterChef 2018 contestant and DJ, Khanh Ong – two new “feed me” menus will be available for lunch and dinner from Tuesday–Friday and Saturday evenings starting June 4. Photograph: Supplied There is the Little Hanoi for $42pp, where Khanh selects favourite dishes for you from the extensive Vietnamese menu. Think Bo La Lot, grilled beef and betel leaf skewers, lamb cutlets with tamarind and millionaire eggplant with Vietnamese mint and sesame dressing. If you’re feeling a little hungrier, and have a little more time on your hands, option two is rightfully named the Big Saigon. For $58 per person, feast on more of the menu with a few sweet treats thrown in. Expect banana parfait and chocolate mousse, or ricotta, pineapple and jackfruit spring rolls with ginger syrup and green peppercorn ice cream. Whether it's a swift, satisfying lunch meeting or you want to get in a quick dinner before a show or night on the town, it’s going to be a fuss-free choice. Photograph: Supplied Ong, whose infectious smile and passion for Asian cuisine made him a viewer favourite in the MasterChef kitchen last year, has revitalised
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo was established in 1985 by Princess Caroline of Hanover (in accordance with her mother, Grace of Monaco’s wishes) and has since become one of the world’s most exciting ballet companies. “For a ballet company, they’re so different to what we do, but they’re really creating ballet of the 21st century,” the Australian Ballet's artistic director David McAllister says. The Australian Ballet has invited the company to Melbourne with this new, critically acclaimed take on Swan Lake, choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot. His production is dark, sexy and features costumes by Winter Olympics designer Philippe Guillotel. “As Jean-Christophe always does, he approaches it from a very contemporary angle,” McAllister says. “It’s the same Swan Lake story – the white swan versus the black swan – but in this production they’re played by different people.”
Every circus is set up basically the same, right? You take one big top (preferably red and white striped), add a stage for the performers, some seats for the audience and maybe some barriers to separate the two. Circus Oz isn’t one for doing things like everyone else though. Circus Oz is shaking up the rules of circus with Wunderage: an immersive new show with no seats and no barriers between you and the performers. In Wunderage the audience isn’t just watching the show passively from the sidelines – instead they see it unfold all around them. Through mind-boggling physical feats, humour and an inspiring live score, Wunderage treads a tightrope (literally and figuratively) between who we are and who we might become. Step into the performance space and discover a room filled with giant blue boulders and tightropes up to four metres high. The performers move freely throughout the space – it’s hard to predict where they’ll appear next as they effortlessly ride bicycles on highwires, do handstands on teetering towers and flip, twist and somersault off precarious platforms. Try to keep calm as the acrobats twirl majestically in aerial slings and clamber up and down Chinese poles. The show is a collaboration with Brisbane performance art group Company2, who have infused it with the group’s sense of poetic theatricality, humour and fondness for pushing boundaries. Wunderage is a playful, heart-warming show that explores the desire for people to be something they are not. Wun
Winter means comfort food, and Fatto Bar and Cantina is stepping up to the plate by filling it with delicious, handmade daily, bottomless pasta through the end of June. Yes, that is correct: endless refills of fresh housemade pasta for $30 per person. The caveat is that the whole table must participate, but come on – did you really think you were going to get through all that pasta without help? Dishes include orecchiette (the ear-shaped ones) with broccoli, anchovy, chilli and garlic; tagliatelle (the long, flat ones) with red wine-braised beef shin, pickled chillies and parsley; rigatoni (the tube-shaped ones) with pancetta, tomato, red onion and pecorino; and spaghettini (the long, thin ones) with garlic, chilli and pangrattato breadcrumbs. You (the happy one) will probably be too stuffed for dessert after that, but we suggest enjoying an a signature Espresso Martini or Negroni on the heated terrace with stunning views of the Melbourne city skyline. The special is available from 7.30pm on weekdays and noon on weekends; bookings are required and can be made online or by contacting the restaurant.
You might know Naked Downstairs as the bar you always walk through to get to the rooftop lounge. But a freshly dropped bar menu is turning this one-time thoroughfare into the final destination for hungry punters. The menu features creative variations on popular bar snacks such as the humble hot dog, which comes with either an organic beef frank, an organic lamb merguez sausage or, for the truly adventurous, an organic beef-mozzarella-jalapeño banger that’s wrapped in cheese, battered and deep fried. Pro tip: Line your belly with one of those puppies before you get stuck into a flight of infused vodkas and you’re golden. Right now you can sample much of the new menu via some killer specials, including 90 cent oysters during the 5-7pm “social hour” on Thursday and Friday nights. Score a schooner of Stone & Wood, a slider and aioli chips (that’s all your food groups right there) for $9 at lunch or dinner. Or supersize any drink with a $1 slider, either classic beef, slow-roasted brisket, Southern fried chicken, or the black bean cheeseburger. There’s even a chocolate and cream cheese slider for dessert, because everything is better in sandwich form. Naked Downstairs is open from noon until late daily.
Monash University has launched its brand new Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts, and you can check it out this winter school holidays. MLIVE is hosting Family Fiesta, a mini-festival for kids and families that will focus on interactive and participatory events on July 5-7. During the course of this three-day weekend festival, kids will get to participate in a free reading session including a couple with live illustration sessions with the authors. Polyglot Theatre, an Australian company specialising in experimental theatre, is also bringing Sound of Drawing, a free interactive experience where kids are encouraged to draw on large sheets of paper hooked up to a table wired for sound. Younger kids who love Maisy Mouse will also get to meet the famous storybook mouse at the Fiesta Book Nook. Ever wondered what you kid thinks of you? Jessica Wilson's interactive experience titled I See You Like This lets kids art direct a creative portrait on their parents' faces. The grown-ups will be at the mercy of the kids as they become subjects of this interactive art experience. One show you definitely won't want to miss is The Young King, an Oscar Wilde tale about a boy raised by goat herds who finds himself the heir to their to a kingdom. The stage adaptation features pre-show activities and interactive components to the show that lets kids be involved in the story. Together with MLIVE, we're giving away five family passes to the Family Fiesta weekend on July 5-7. Passes inclu
Keen to see the best new TV before everyone else? ACMI and Film Victoria are back with the Melbourne version of Series Mania, the sister festival of the highly regarded ten-day French festival (it's known as the Cannes of television). As ACMI is currently undergoing a huge redevelopment, all screenings will be taking place at the newly refurbished Capitol Theatre on Swanston Street. Headlining the 2019 festival is the Emmy-nominated creator of Netflix series Jessica Jones, Melissa Rosenberg. You may also recognise Rosenberg as a writer on hit shows like The OC, Dexter and the Twilight franchise. Hear her take a deep dive into her creative process in an exclusive in-conversation event on Friday, July 5 at the Capitol. The festival kicks off with the world premiere of The Hunting, a new SBS drama starring Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh. The four-part drama series navigates the lives of four teenagers, their teachers and families after a nude teen photo scandal. The critically acclaimed UK drama The Virtues will also premiere at Series Mania Melbourne, as well as bittersweet dramedy Frayed. One thing's for sure, Series Mania Melbourne might just reveal your next TV obsession. Series Mania Melbourne kicks off at the Capitol on July 3. Check out the full program here.