Where to see the winter lights in regional Victoria

Grab your wands and your Hogwarts house tie, because a brand new magical experience that is every Potterhead's dream is coming to Melbourne. Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience is apparating to the Mornington Peninsula, with a mystical encounter that will have you living out your witch or wizard fantasies in the muggle world. Follow in the daring footsteps of Harry himself through the infamous Forbidden Forest, where you'll meet hippogriffs and unicorns, as well as cast powerful spells. The outdoor trail adventure will lead you on a fully immersive journey, finishing with a Potter-themed village that has food, drink and merch on offer.

Italian polymath, painter, inventor and astounding genius Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most celebrated artists and scientists of all time, yet seeing his works is typically out of reach for the average Aussie. Well, all that’s about to change thanks to the Lume Melbourne’s new immersive experience.  Leonardo da Vinci – 500 Years of Genius will feature massive projections of some of the world’s most famous works of art, including the ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘The Last Supper’. These four-storey high projections showcase da Vinci’s breathtaking Renaissance paintings in a way that’s much more accessible than a trip to the Louvre. 

The colourful creatures that make up ACMI’s latest, world premiere exhibition burst to life from a single drawn line, before growing and changing right before your eyes. The more you move and interact in the space, the more animated these curious characters will get, morphing between forms and textures for a hyperreal experience. Beings is the name of this innovative exhibition, which will open from May 22 and stick around until September 29. The name refers to the friendly digital critters seemingly ‘living’ in the exhibition’s large-scale digital screens, just waiting for you to come and play. These generative digital artworks are constantly changing, which means no two people will see the same exhibition, and each time you visit will also be unique.

Joy features seven brand new commissioned installations from leading Victorian-based creatives, each expressing the artists’ own personal joy. You can expect an emotive adventure where colour and storytelling combine, and big happy moments that sit alongside more reflective ones. Venezuelan-born Australian artist Nadia Hernández has filled the Immigration Museum’s hallway with bold collage works, ‘future positive’ fashion designer Nixi Killick has created a ‘joy generator’ and queer artist Spencer Harrison has created a runway where you can strut your stuff. Plus, much-loved pop artist and designer Callum Preston has constructed a full-scale replica of a nineties video store, a joy he never thought he would miss until he realised it was gone.