Max your summer in Melbourne

Scienceworks invites visitors to explore Earth and the cosmos with a series of after-hours and adults-only film screenings on the huge Planetarium dome, with a drink in hand. Every Friday night, those over 18 can explore the universe through immersive documentaries and marvel at the magic of the universe. You won’t go spacing out at these shows either, as they’re loaded with amazing visuals and stellar content. The Friday night screenings feature two fims: one at 7.30pm and the other at 9pm. The films change each month; this June, you can look forward to Voyager – The Never Ending Journey in the earlier session. Ukrainian filmmaker Yuriy Gapon takes viewers on a wild ride to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to see the launch of two space probes that would make history in the 1970s. If you book in for this slot, a presenter will also walk you through What’s in the Sky Tonight, where our real-time night sky will look more like a movie.  If you decide to come to the later session (or buy a double ticket and stick around), Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon will be lighting up the dome. Strap in for 42 minutes of non-stop tunes from the legendary rock band, as their greatest hits from the album Dark Side of the Moon is played in surround sound while set to trippy celestial visuals. Update Thursday, June 12: The June screenings of Dark Side of the Moon are all sold out, but you can catch the show back by popular demand in August (if you're eager, you can snag tickets from...

The Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and its sister venues, Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Mornington Peninsula Chocolaterie, are hosting a delicious 18-day festival dedicated to possibly the best baked invention since sliced bread: the brownie. During the sweet extravaganza, the chocolateries will be releasing 16 limited-edition brownie varieties to sample, along with a range of brownie-inspired desserts and drinks.  Wondering what flavours are available this year? Here's a tasty teaser about what to expect: Dubai chocolate, Basque cheesecake, peanut butter chocolate whisky, black sesame and yuzu tarte. Yum! There are even gluten-free and vegan options to try so no one misses out. If you eat, sleep and breathe brownies, you might want to consider booking one of the tasting sessions. This is where you'll get to concoct your dream brownie from 50 different ingredients and while that’s baking, get to sample eight exclusive creations including bites, a hot chocolate and brownie ice cream You can even order the brownies to take home too – if they last the drive home, that is. The Brownie Festival is on from June 11-29. You can find out more here.  Keen for more fun? Here are the best things to do around Victoria in June.

As a chill settles over the city each winter, Rising returns with a nocturnal vengeance. This year, the much-loved arts festival will take place across twelve nights from June 4-15, with a red-hot program featuring 65 events, 327 artists and nine world premieres. Musical highlights include an exclusive Australian performance by British indie-pop girlie Suki Waterhouse; a one-off show by Beth Gibbons of Portishead fame, who will bring her haunting solo album Lives Outgrown to Hamer Hall; and Brooklyn rap legends Black Star (aka Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli) live on stage in Melbourne for the first time ever. Joining them on the line-up will also be Japanese Breakfast, Marlon Williams, Forest Swords and Mount Kimbie. On the first Saturday of the festival (June 7), Fed Square will be taken over by Blockbuster – a vibrant celebration of South Asian culture featuring contemporary Pakistani music, an eye-catching Punjabi truck art installation and plenty of delicious street food.  Flinders Street Station will double as a mini golf course when Swingers – The Art of Mini Golf takes over. This immersive (and fully playable) exhibition will include works by some of the world’s most dynamic and boundary-pushing female-identifying artists. The Capitol Theatre will also be transformed thanks to a massive kinetic light installation by Shohei Fujimoto. If it's a break from the hustle and bustle of life you're after, Korean artist Woopsyang's viral “do nothing” challenge comes to QV Square,...

If you ask any Australian, Japan is so hot right now. The country seems to be a magnet for Aussie tourists at the minute, but let’s be realistic for one second – how is our whole Instagram feed affording to jet-set away from these cost of living woes? Lucky for locals, South Melbourne Market is bringing a slice of Japan to town this June so you don’t need to step foot in an airport to try wildly delicious and creatively authentic Japanese eats. So what is Flavours of Japan? It’s a niche concept so stick with us here. The self-guided degustation takes you around South Melbourne Market where vendors have created Japanese dishes specially for this foodie affair. A hot little ticket for $79 gets you more than ten dishes to sample, plus immersive experiences at the market stalls, a map and stamp card to tick them all off, and an adorable market bag. What’s on the menu, I hear you asking? It’s a stellar line-up. There’s a hojicha (a popular roasted green tea) infused mini croissant and torched salmon sashimi to whet the appetite; two different types of dumpling; calamari with togarashi (Japanese chilli pepper) and yuzu aioli; a burrata with Japanese fix-ins like bonito flakes, green onion, soy and a side of edamame; and a panko-crumbed eggplant katsu curry to boot. You can also look forward to some gorgeous desserts like an award-winning matcha gelato and a black sesame cookie with a gooey centre. Are you drooling yet? That’s not even all the dishes. You can check the rest out...

For the twelfth year, Fitzroy's beloved Builders Arms Hotel is once again devoting ten days to sausages in June, celebrating everything from classic bratwurst to smoked frankfurters. Make a lunch or dinner booking anytime from Thursday June 12 to Sunday 22 to taste your fave sossies from the special festival menu.  The carnivorous array include spicy 'nduja rolls glazed with local honey; Spanish-style morcilla blood pudding hash brown Benedict; grilled bratwurst skewers with curry sauce; smoked cheese kransky hotdog with sauerkraut and chilli; an Alsatian-inspired trio of smoked frankfurters, Toulouse and Lyonnaise sausages on a bed of baked sauerkraut; and Modena-style cotechino with cime di rapa and baked polenta.  While we love a Bunnings sizzle as much as the next person, there's no doubt this menu takes it to the next level. The incredibly talented Troy Wheeler and his team from Meatsmith are making all the sausages from scratch, so you can expect proper juicy ones of an exceptional quality and with all the complementary accoutrements.  Kicking off the celebrations, there's a festival launch happy hour on Thursday June 12 from 5-7pm with free sausage snacks – and for a bit of extra fun, the program includes a special sausage-themed edition of Trivia with Cam Smith on Thursday evening, June 19. Call up your most competitive foodie friends, establish a team and prepare yourself for a night of obscure sausage facts, general snag knowledge and plenty of laughs all...

May the 4th is a special date for any Star Wars fan, but this year it'll be one to remember. A brand-new Lego Star Wars exhibition is making its world premiere, and it won't be in a galaxy far, far away but right here in Melbourne.  Lego Star Wars: the Exhibition at Melbourne Museum comes from revered Lego genius Ryan 'Brickman' McNaught, who's back with his latest mind-boggling project of massive Star Wars brick creations – some standing at a whopping four metres tall.  There'll be Lego replicas of many of the iconic characters, fan favourite scenes, spacecraft and more, from both the classic films and newer releases. Plus, the exhibition will include interactive brick-based activities inclusive of all ages.  While there's still some time to wait for the exhibition opening, building has already begun, and it's expected it'll take more than 25,000 hours to finish and use a wild 8 million Lego bricks. One of the most monumental creations is a three-metre-tall red X-wing spacecraft, made of an astonishing 64,759 bricks, taking 382 hours to build.  "Fans will be blown away by the scale of the experience," Brickman says. "Building these iconic scenes and characters in Lego Star Wars form is an extremely complex task – taking the humble Lego brick and using it by the millions to translate into Star Wars builds and models at an epic scale the world has never seen before.  "My team and I are super excited to launch this mind-blowing experience right here in Melbourne. My inner...

Whack on something dazzling and dust off your dancing shoes as the much-loved NGV Friday Nights returns to warm Melburnians up this winter. The popular event returns for 18 weeks during the NGV International's latest winter masterpieces exhibition, French Impressionism.  The new exhibition showcases more than 100 works by some of the greatest impressionist artists of all time, such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and more. French Impressionism will take visitors on a journey through the evolution of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in late nineteenth-century France, experiencing firsthand the radical vision of avant-garde artists who challenged tradition to forge a new artistic path. From June 6 until October 3, you can take an after-dark journey through late nineteenth-century France, and exploring the evolution of this art form that was once considered radical and avant-garde. But in addition to the art, spend your Friday evening enjoying a night out at one of Melbourne's most beloved attractions. Grab a tipple from one of the multiple bars (including the Moët and Chandon Champagne Bar and the Yering Station Wine Bar), or enjoy a set winter menu at the NGV Garden Restaurant. The trendy tunes are another key drawcard of NGV Friday nights, with musicians performing in the Great Hall every night. There'll be live music performances spanning genres including jazz, contemporary classical, R&B, neo-soul and electronic,...

Whether you’re yet to grace restaurateur Chris Lucas’ opulent Society with a visit or you’re a die-hard dinnertime loyalist, it’s well worth a look in for a weekend lunch. From Friday to Sunday in the afternoons, the swish restaurant is hosting the Society Social, an extravagant multi-course affair featuring a generous array of savoury dishes and a roving dessert trolley to dazzle you at the end.  The offering was inspired by Lucas’ recent adventures in Paris and New York, cities where palatial dining rooms reign supreme and lunch is a social occasion in and of itself. Expect a fine dining experience but with a casual, unstuffy air and minus the enormous price tag (it costs just $77 per person for your choice of two courses or $99 if you opt for a third). You’ll start with artisanal housemade bread and butter and a rainbow of market-fresh crudité hand-picked daily from local farms. Opt for a crisp disc of radish dunked into taramasalata or a tree-like cauliflower bud smothered with smoked eggplant or crème fraiche. Repeat and relish the lavish assortment of textures and flavours before easing into your meal with one of Society’s signature drinks – or a bottle of Champers to make it a long and lazy one.  If you’ve got your eye on another varietal, just ask for the beverage director Loic Avril and his team of sommeliers, one of which will assist you in selecting the perfect drop from the impressive 10,000-bottle cellar. A selection of Society’s cult favourite snacks follow,...

Scienceworks invites visitors to explore Earth and the cosmos with a series of after-hours and adults-only film screenings on the huge Planetarium dome, with a drink in hand. Every Friday night, those over 18 can explore the universe through immersive documentaries and marvel at the magic of the universe. You won’t go spacing out at these shows either, as they’re loaded with amazing visuals and stellar content. The Friday night screenings feature two fims: one at 7.30pm and the other at 9pm. The films change each month; this June, you can look forward to Voyager – The Never Ending Journey in the earlier session. Ukrainian filmmaker Yuriy Gapon takes viewers on a wild ride to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to see the launch of two space probes that would make history in the 1970s. If you book in for this slot, a presenter will also walk you through What’s in the Sky Tonight, where our real-time night sky will look more like a movie.  If you decide to come to the later session (or buy a double ticket and stick around), Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon will be lighting up the dome. Strap in for 42 minutes of non-stop tunes from the legendary rock band, as their greatest hits from the album Dark Side of the Moon is played in surround sound while set to trippy celestial visuals. Update Thursday, June 12: The June screenings of Dark Side of the Moon are all sold out, but you can catch the show back by popular demand in August (if you're eager, you can snag tickets from...

The Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and its sister venues, Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Mornington Peninsula Chocolaterie, are hosting a delicious 18-day festival dedicated to possibly the best baked invention since sliced bread: the brownie. During the sweet extravaganza, the chocolateries will be releasing 16 limited-edition brownie varieties to sample, along with a range of brownie-inspired desserts and drinks.  Wondering what flavours are available this year? Here's a tasty teaser about what to expect: Dubai chocolate, Basque cheesecake, peanut butter chocolate whisky, black sesame and yuzu tarte. Yum! There are even gluten-free and vegan options to try so no one misses out. If you eat, sleep and breathe brownies, you might want to consider booking one of the tasting sessions. This is where you'll get to concoct your dream brownie from 50 different ingredients and while that’s baking, get to sample eight exclusive creations including bites, a hot chocolate and brownie ice cream You can even order the brownies to take home too – if they last the drive home, that is. The Brownie Festival is on from June 11-29. You can find out more here.  Keen for more fun? Here are the best things to do around Victoria in June.

As a chill settles over the city each winter, Rising returns with a nocturnal vengeance. This year, the much-loved arts festival will take place across twelve nights from June 4-15, with a red-hot program featuring 65 events, 327 artists and nine world premieres. Musical highlights include an exclusive Australian performance by British indie-pop girlie Suki Waterhouse; a one-off show by Beth Gibbons of Portishead fame, who will bring her haunting solo album Lives Outgrown to Hamer Hall; and Brooklyn rap legends Black Star (aka Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli) live on stage in Melbourne for the first time ever. Joining them on the line-up will also be Japanese Breakfast, Marlon Williams, Forest Swords and Mount Kimbie. On the first Saturday of the festival (June 7), Fed Square will be taken over by Blockbuster – a vibrant celebration of South Asian culture featuring contemporary Pakistani music, an eye-catching Punjabi truck art installation and plenty of delicious street food.  Flinders Street Station will double as a mini golf course when Swingers – The Art of Mini Golf takes over. This immersive (and fully playable) exhibition will include works by some of the world’s most dynamic and boundary-pushing female-identifying artists. The Capitol Theatre will also be transformed thanks to a massive kinetic light installation by Shohei Fujimoto. If it's a break from the hustle and bustle of life you're after, Korean artist Woopsyang's viral “do nothing” challenge comes to QV Square,...

If you ask any Australian, Japan is so hot right now. The country seems to be a magnet for Aussie tourists at the minute, but let’s be realistic for one second – how is our whole Instagram feed affording to jet-set away from these cost of living woes? Lucky for locals, South Melbourne Market is bringing a slice of Japan to town this June so you don’t need to step foot in an airport to try wildly delicious and creatively authentic Japanese eats. So what is Flavours of Japan? It’s a niche concept so stick with us here. The self-guided degustation takes you around South Melbourne Market where vendors have created Japanese dishes specially for this foodie affair. A hot little ticket for $79 gets you more than ten dishes to sample, plus immersive experiences at the market stalls, a map and stamp card to tick them all off, and an adorable market bag. What’s on the menu, I hear you asking? It’s a stellar line-up. There’s a hojicha (a popular roasted green tea) infused mini croissant and torched salmon sashimi to whet the appetite; two different types of dumpling; calamari with togarashi (Japanese chilli pepper) and yuzu aioli; a burrata with Japanese fix-ins like bonito flakes, green onion, soy and a side of edamame; and a panko-crumbed eggplant katsu curry to boot. You can also look forward to some gorgeous desserts like an award-winning matcha gelato and a black sesame cookie with a gooey centre. Are you drooling yet? That’s not even all the dishes. You can check the rest out...

For the twelfth year, Fitzroy's beloved Builders Arms Hotel is once again devoting ten days to sausages in June, celebrating everything from classic bratwurst to smoked frankfurters. Make a lunch or dinner booking anytime from Thursday June 12 to Sunday 22 to taste your fave sossies from the special festival menu.  The carnivorous array include spicy 'nduja rolls glazed with local honey; Spanish-style morcilla blood pudding hash brown Benedict; grilled bratwurst skewers with curry sauce; smoked cheese kransky hotdog with sauerkraut and chilli; an Alsatian-inspired trio of smoked frankfurters, Toulouse and Lyonnaise sausages on a bed of baked sauerkraut; and Modena-style cotechino with cime di rapa and baked polenta.  While we love a Bunnings sizzle as much as the next person, there's no doubt this menu takes it to the next level. The incredibly talented Troy Wheeler and his team from Meatsmith are making all the sausages from scratch, so you can expect proper juicy ones of an exceptional quality and with all the complementary accoutrements.  Kicking off the celebrations, there's a festival launch happy hour on Thursday June 12 from 5-7pm with free sausage snacks – and for a bit of extra fun, the program includes a special sausage-themed edition of Trivia with Cam Smith on Thursday evening, June 19. Call up your most competitive foodie friends, establish a team and prepare yourself for a night of obscure sausage facts, general snag knowledge and plenty of laughs all...

May the 4th is a special date for any Star Wars fan, but this year it'll be one to remember. A brand-new Lego Star Wars exhibition is making its world premiere, and it won't be in a galaxy far, far away but right here in Melbourne.  Lego Star Wars: the Exhibition at Melbourne Museum comes from revered Lego genius Ryan 'Brickman' McNaught, who's back with his latest mind-boggling project of massive Star Wars brick creations – some standing at a whopping four metres tall.  There'll be Lego replicas of many of the iconic characters, fan favourite scenes, spacecraft and more, from both the classic films and newer releases. Plus, the exhibition will include interactive brick-based activities inclusive of all ages.  While there's still some time to wait for the exhibition opening, building has already begun, and it's expected it'll take more than 25,000 hours to finish and use a wild 8 million Lego bricks. One of the most monumental creations is a three-metre-tall red X-wing spacecraft, made of an astonishing 64,759 bricks, taking 382 hours to build.  "Fans will be blown away by the scale of the experience," Brickman says. "Building these iconic scenes and characters in Lego Star Wars form is an extremely complex task – taking the humble Lego brick and using it by the millions to translate into Star Wars builds and models at an epic scale the world has never seen before.  "My team and I are super excited to launch this mind-blowing experience right here in Melbourne. My inner...

Whack on something dazzling and dust off your dancing shoes as the much-loved NGV Friday Nights returns to warm Melburnians up this winter. The popular event returns for 18 weeks during the NGV International's latest winter masterpieces exhibition, French Impressionism.  The new exhibition showcases more than 100 works by some of the greatest impressionist artists of all time, such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and more. French Impressionism will take visitors on a journey through the evolution of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in late nineteenth-century France, experiencing firsthand the radical vision of avant-garde artists who challenged tradition to forge a new artistic path. From June 6 until October 3, you can take an after-dark journey through late nineteenth-century France, and exploring the evolution of this art form that was once considered radical and avant-garde. But in addition to the art, spend your Friday evening enjoying a night out at one of Melbourne's most beloved attractions. Grab a tipple from one of the multiple bars (including the Moët and Chandon Champagne Bar and the Yering Station Wine Bar), or enjoy a set winter menu at the NGV Garden Restaurant. The trendy tunes are another key drawcard of NGV Friday nights, with musicians performing in the Great Hall every night. There'll be live music performances spanning genres including jazz, contemporary classical, R&B, neo-soul and electronic,...

Whether you’re yet to grace restaurateur Chris Lucas’ opulent Society with a visit or you’re a die-hard dinnertime loyalist, it’s well worth a look in for a weekend lunch. From Friday to Sunday in the afternoons, the swish restaurant is hosting the Society Social, an extravagant multi-course affair featuring a generous array of savoury dishes and a roving dessert trolley to dazzle you at the end.  The offering was inspired by Lucas’ recent adventures in Paris and New York, cities where palatial dining rooms reign supreme and lunch is a social occasion in and of itself. Expect a fine dining experience but with a casual, unstuffy air and minus the enormous price tag (it costs just $77 per person for your choice of two courses or $99 if you opt for a third). You’ll start with artisanal housemade bread and butter and a rainbow of market-fresh crudité hand-picked daily from local farms. Opt for a crisp disc of radish dunked into taramasalata or a tree-like cauliflower bud smothered with smoked eggplant or crème fraiche. Repeat and relish the lavish assortment of textures and flavours before easing into your meal with one of Society’s signature drinks – or a bottle of Champers to make it a long and lazy one.  If you’ve got your eye on another varietal, just ask for the beverage director Loic Avril and his team of sommeliers, one of which will assist you in selecting the perfect drop from the impressive 10,000-bottle cellar. A selection of Society’s cult favourite snacks follow,...

Since 1993, the Reclink Community Cup has pitted two teams with questionable footy skills to raise money for Reclink Australia, an organisation that provides sports, recreation and arts programs to disadvantaged Australians. If you love footy, music and chilled-out fun times, then it's one of the highlights of winter. And this year, it's taking place on June 15 at Victoria Park in Abbotsford. So here's the deal. You've got two teams: the Megahertz (made up of radio folk from Triple R and PBS 106.7FM) and the Rockdogs (made up of Aussie musicians). Some are surprisingly skilled, and others not so much – but the main thing is that they put on a bloody great game to watch. On top of that, the day is packed with live performers. This year's line-up includes Spiderbait, Milo Eastwood, Frente, Charlie Needs Braces and more. Everyone is welcome at this event (which, combining rock and footy, is basically the most Melbourne event ever created) – so bring your family, your dog and get ready to cheer. There'll be plenty of children's activities and food stalls, too.  Tickets are on sale now via here.  Looking for more things to do? Check out our round-up of the best things happening in Melbourne this week.