Things to do in Melbourne in December

If the last time you visited Melbourne Museum was on a school trip to see the hall of taxidermy animals, you're definitely long overdue for a return. Luckily, the museum runs Nocturnal – a monthly adults-only event series.  Nocturnal transforms the museum into an after-hours adult playground on the first Friday of every month. Punters have access to the museum long after the last school group have left the building and can expect a lounge bar serving drinks and bar snacks. The event's crowning glory is the stage in front of the Forest Gallery where Melbourne's best music acts perform. On Friday, December 7, Nocturnal will be flying the rainbow flag featuring live performances from popstar Brendan Maclean, dance floor queen Whiskey Houston, as well as Brooke Powers, Dandrogyny and the incredible Sunshine and Disco Faith Choir.  The museum will be open late for partygoers to explore, with special talks and experts on the night. 

The NGV's Friday Nights series is back for another round, and this time they’re pairing a string of gigs alongside the new Escher X nendo | Between Two Worlds. Few things go hand-in-hand like music and art, and NGV Friday Nights’ set-up is the best way to take in the latest NGV exhibition after dark while enjoying the best in local and international acts. This season’s line-up kicks off on December 7 with the line-up boasting some headline electronic artists and DJs including songwriter and producer Andy Bull, Melbourne duo Confidence Man, Sydney's Nicole Millar, record producer Jonti, Australian/Filipino artist Chela plus a special Saturday night DJ set from San Cisco on Saturday, April 6. Check the NGV website for full line-up details. 

Spend your Wednesday nights surrounded by food at the Queen Victoria Market's legendary Night Market. Rows and rows of street food stalls, festival bars, as well as more than 130 art, fashion, homewares and general knick-knack merchandise traders will feature alongside a rotating line-up of musicians and entertainment. Over 60 food stalls will be cooking up delicious snacks all night long, including anything from charcoal skewers, Japanese sliders, Greek doughnuts and so much more. New vendors for the 2018/19 season include Little Paris serving their French cheese and crêpes, Miso Fresh with vegan soba noodles and Japanese fried chicken, Colomiantojos with traditional Colombian arepas and empanadas, Pierogi Pierogi and their authentic Polish dumplings, and Abruzzo Lab with delicious Italian arrosticini skewers. If you're thirsty, the Garden Bar will be serving Canadian Club and Coldstream cider, Mitchelton Winery will be showcasing a range of wines and their fun Prosseco spritzes, plus market faves Brick Lane Brewing Co will be pouring two new craft brews alongside the usual favourites.  Right in the heart of the city, the markets make a great dinner stop for anyone coming from work, or tourists looking to experience the famous markets after dark. The markets have a reputation for multiculturalism so no matter what cuisine you fancy, you're likely to find something that sets your mouth watering. 

Do you want to learn how to cook like your favourite MasterChef contestant? The Adelphi Hotel's restaurant, Om Nom, is hosting a series of masterclasses to help you do just that.  From September to December Om Nom Kitchen’s Jo Ward is teaming up with different MasterChef alumni to run a series of cooking workshops. Each session runs for 90 minutes and will cover two delectable dishes, which will change from evening to evening depending on the guest chef. These include dumplings with Tamara Graffen (Tuesday, September 25), desserts with Bryan Zhu (Tuesday, October 16), seafood with Jess Liementara (Tuesday, November 20), or chicken liver pâté with Reece Hignell (Tuesday, December 4).  Tickets are priced at $125 per person, which covers bottomless French sparkling wine, a masterclass on two dishes (one main and one dessert), take-home recipes, and an exclusive gift. Best of all, there’ll only be 30 people per session so you’ll get an up-close view of the action.

Upcoming drag king and queens get the chance to practise their shows and refine their acts every Thursday night at Melbourne's favourite LGBTQIA+ venue (as voted by Time Out readers), Sircuit. Bio queens, drag queens, trash queens and drag kings all perform, and the event is hosted by famed drag queen Missy La ’Minx. It's a chance for up-and-coming performers to get experience, and for audiences of course it's a night of fantastic drag.  The bar offers $5 pints from 7pm until 10pm, and entry is free. 

Alliance Française's annual Christmas market is back, with plenty of stalls selling items crafted by French designers living in Australia. The family-friendly Christmas festival will feature plenty of food and wine, demonstrations, craft workshops, free trial French lessons and secondhand French books. The market is happening at Eildon Mansion in St Kilda, which also happens to be Alliance Française's southside headquarters (the resemblance to a French chateau is uncanny). There will be free and gold-coin activities for the les enfants (such as face painting and balloon art). Check out the Christmas stalls where vendors will be selling edible gifts as well as locally designed goods and goods made in France.

Arts Centre Melbourne isn't only great for the odd show or even for a meal and a tipple at The Barre, every Sunday the grounds of the arts precinct's hub comes alive with market stalls selling everything from handmade leather wallet to locally made art by the city's designers and small business owners.  Situated a short walk away from Flinders Street Station, everything on offer at the market has been locally made, and the market also features a great range of food stalls if you want to shake up your Sunday brunch. Head over to the Arslan gozleme stall for some Turkish pastry layered with delicious spicy lamb or cheese and spinach, or make a stop at the poffertjes stall for some  Dutch pancakes.

Spend your Wednesday nights surrounded by food at the Queen Victoria Market's legendary Night Market. Rows and rows of street food stalls, festival bars, as well as more than 130 art, fashion, homewares and general knick-knack merchandise traders will feature alongside a rotating line-up of musicians and entertainment. Over 60 food stalls will be cooking up delicious snacks all night long, including anything from charcoal skewers, Japanese sliders, Greek doughnuts and so much more. New vendors for the 2018/19 season include Little Paris serving their French cheese and crêpes, Miso Fresh with vegan soba noodles and Japanese fried chicken, Colomiantojos with traditional Colombian arepas and empanadas, Pierogi Pierogi and their authentic Polish dumplings, and Abruzzo Lab with delicious Italian arrosticini skewers. If you're thirsty, the Garden Bar will be serving Canadian Club and Coldstream cider, Mitchelton Winery will be showcasing a range of wines and their fun Prosseco spritzes, plus market faves Brick Lane Brewing Co will be pouring two new craft brews alongside the usual favourites.  Right in the heart of the city, the markets make a great dinner stop for anyone coming from work, or tourists looking to experience the famous markets after dark. The markets have a reputation for multiculturalism so no matter what cuisine you fancy, you're likely to find something that sets your mouth watering. 

Upcoming drag king and queens get the chance to practise their shows and refine their acts every Thursday night at Melbourne's favourite LGBTQIA+ venue (as voted by Time Out readers), Sircuit. Bio queens, drag queens, trash queens and drag kings all perform, and the event is hosted by famed drag queen Missy La ’Minx. It's a chance for up-and-coming performers to get experience, and for audiences of course it's a night of fantastic drag.  The bar offers $5 pints from 7pm until 10pm, and entry is free. 

Alliance Française's annual Christmas market is back, with plenty of stalls selling items crafted by French designers living in Australia. The family-friendly Christmas festival will feature plenty of food and wine, demonstrations, craft workshops, free trial French lessons and secondhand French books. The market is happening at Eildon Mansion in St Kilda, which also happens to be Alliance Française's southside headquarters (the resemblance to a French chateau is uncanny). There will be free and gold-coin activities for the les enfants (such as face painting and balloon art). Check out the Christmas stalls where vendors will be selling edible gifts as well as locally designed goods and goods made in France.

You won’t find any Shake ‘n Bake at the Cake Bake and Sweets Show – this flour-covered expo only dishes out top tier sweet treats. There’s masterclasses, cake-decorating competitions, workshops and cooking demonstrations for home bakers, and plenty of taste-testing opportunities if dessert is your kryptonite. Over three days of baking events, you’ll get the chance to be tutored by international celebrity chefs and local baking stars. Pastry chef at Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel Anna Polyviou will share her creative dessert skills, appearing alongside local Instagram dessert queen Katherine Sabbath and Benny Rivera from New York’s City Cakes. Throughout the show, learn how to temper couverture chocolate, whip together the smoothest buttercream, create sharp frosting edges and even construct a multi-tiered wedding cake. There will also be an exhibition space to taste the full carbtastic menu, explore new baking appliances and have cookbooks signed by your baking idols. Some savoury baked items will make the cut, and there’ll be an area dedicated to healthy baking, so you can go nuts on your cheat day without going into a sugar coma. You'll need to register for most classes and workshops, which are an additional cost on top of the entry ticket price.

Paris to Provence returns to South Yarra for three days of good food, wine and music. Melbourne's French expats, Francophiles and bon vivants will gather to soak up the atmosphere and participate in activities ranging from the 'Doggy in Franc'y Dress' party, to French cooking masterclasses and an escargot eating race. The French market will, of course, be back for your street food fix with over 30 food and wine stalls, cheese tastings and providores so you can stock up your pantry. Look out for Le Petit Goûter French High Tea for a kid-friendly high tea experience, or take part in the 3D Notre Dame puzzle reconstruction. You can also get amongst a pop-up a French cinema and My French Kitchen will be putting on demonstrations will the brains behind Agathé Patisserie, Richmond Hill Café, Milk the Cow, Pierrick Boyer and Le Pot de Moutarde.  Tickets to Paris to Provence cost $20.50 with children able to get in for $7. 

Transport yourself to Africa as Federation Square comes alive with vibrant music, dance performances and artworks. Last year, more than 36,000 Melburnians gathered to celebrate the many African communities that have enriched our city; in fact, 35 different communities and organisations were involved. This year should see even more people come to the party. Of course it's not a festival without some food, so expect traditional street food from Egypt to Ethiopia, Ghana to Nigeria: think injera and curry, plus delicious sweet treats.

If you’ve got a while to go before payday but you’re craving some fine food then let us introduce you to Burma Lane’s Cheap Date Mondays.  Every Monday Burma Lane do two-for-one ‘feed me’ banquets. That means you get enough food for you and a mate on Burma Lane’s $39 or $50 lunch menus, or on their $69 or $85 dinner menus. It’s one of the best ways to indulge in fun modern Asian dishes without blowing your budget. Start your week right with a cheap dinner date at Burma Lane. To take advantage of this economical offer make sure you mention it at the time of booking.

Ever wanted to know how they make everything beautiful at the ballet? This tour is for the ultimate ballet lover or just a committed theatre fan who wants to learn the secrets of how a major production springs to life on stage. The tours are limited to 12 people, who'll be picked up from Southbank and taken to the Australian Ballet's 10,000 square-metre custom-designed production centre in Altona. There you'll discover the sets for more than 90 productions and 30,000 costumes. The archive dates back 50 years, and your guide will show you how a production is moved from the production centre to the stage.

It takes a long time to work your way through Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey – although not quite as long as the ten years it takes its hero, Odysseus, to find his way back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. But the journey seems a little more achievable when helped along by some famous Melburnians, who'll be reading a new translation of the poem across 12 hours at the MPavilion in Queen Victoria Gardens. The line-up of 24 readers assembled by Stork Theatre includes Magda Szubanski, Sigrid Thornton, Jack Charles and Kate Kendall. Each will read one chapter over the course of the day, delving into a world of warriors, ogres, lovers and a large wooden horse that was much more than it seemed. They'll be performing the first ever English translation written by a woman. Professor Emily Wilson's version challenges the sexism within the poem and gives greater agency to the female characters. The event is free and you're welcome to bring along a picnic and drop in and out as you please. The schedule is as follows: Part 1: The Hero’s Son featuring Helen of Troy (11am) Read by Magda Szubanski, Neil Morris and others Part 2: Enter Odysseus featuring Athena and Calypso (1pm) Read by Caroline Lee, Richard Piper and others Part 3: The Adventures featuring the Cyclops, Sirens, lotus eaters and Circe (3pm) Read by Dimity Shepherd, Neil Pigot and others Part 4: The Homecoming featuring Odysseus’ reunion with his son Telemachus (5pm) Read by Jack Charles, Sigrid Thornton and others Part 5

The NGV's Friday Nights series is back for another round, and this time they’re pairing a string of gigs alongside the new Escher X nendo | Between Two Worlds. Few things go hand-in-hand like music and art, and NGV Friday Nights’ set-up is the best way to take in the latest NGV exhibition after dark while enjoying the best in local and international acts. This season’s line-up kicks off on December 7 with the line-up boasting some headline electronic artists and DJs including songwriter and producer Andy Bull, Melbourne duo Confidence Man, Sydney's Nicole Millar, record producer Jonti, Australian/Filipino artist Chela plus a special Saturday night DJ set from San Cisco on Saturday, April 6. Check the NGV website for full line-up details. 

It’s a universal feeling. It’s in the air. It lifts us up where we belong. It’s all we need. So what’s your love story? Melbourne’s Immigration Museum is putting the spotlight on love this summer with an exhibition that will combine visual art, historic and contemporary artefacts and a few personal reflections from the general public. The museum will present all kinds of Australian love stories which will cover demographics of time, gender, ethnicity, orientation, age and distance. Head into the Immigration Museum’s recently renovated Long Room, where you’ll hear first-person storytelling about love through a tailored digital guide, with an all-Australian soundtrack of love songs playing throughout. There will be purpose-built “love shacks” to hang out in, and you can commit your own love story to the exhibition’s central Heart Garden installation. The exhibition has been created in collaboration with Heide Museum of Modern Art. Love will feature works loaned from the Heide Collection including work from Aussie artists Sidney Nolan, Joy Hester, Albert Tucker, Sam Atyeo, Mirka Mora and Richard Larter.

Think you can’t see the Moon indoors? Think again. Scienceworks has announced an exciting new exhibition for December, which lets visitors take in a replica of the Moon close up. Museum of the Moon is essentially a seven-metre diameter spherical sculpture that features large-scale NASA imagery of the lunar surface. It’s shown at a scale of 1:500,000, which means each centimetre of the sculpture represents five kilometres of the Moon’s actual surface.   Created by UK artist Luke Jerram, Museum of the Moon has travelled over the world in recent years. What’s cool about the installation is that it blends detailed lunar imagery, internally illuminated “moonlight” and a specially designed soundtrack created by BAFTA award-winning composer Dan Jones. Virtual reality experience and game Opaque Space: Earthlight – Lunar Hub will illuminate the way you experience the moon, as well. This 40-minute experience will feature 20 minutes in-game and uses headsets and backpack PCs to allow players to move freely around the play space. Entrance to Opaque Space will have an additional charge.  There will also be an exciting range of public programs during the Museum of the Moon's residency. Entrance into the exhibition is included with museum entry (free for children and concession and $15 for adults). 

Things are getting a little weird in the west this summer. From November 29 to December 9 two Australian performance artists, Neil Thomas and David Wells, are hosting a surreal, dream-like arts pop-up in Werribee. Red Arcade, produced by Wyndham City, is a free, immersive and site-specific installation filled with light, art, performance and interactive opportunities. Thomas and Wells will transform Werribee’s Watton Plaza into another world, where everything from the walls to the ground you walk on is filled with tricks and surprises. As you explore the uncanny space and meet its bizarre characters you’ll completely forget that you’re right in the heart of Melbourne’s western suburbs. Red Arcade is the collective work of more than 100 artists and members of the community including design and fabrication company Big Fish, lighting designer Ben 'Bosco' Shaw, musician and sound designer Patrick Cronin and many more. The lead creatives for Red Arcade, Thomas and Wells, have over 30 years' experience making curious installations across Australia. Previously the duo have worked together on projects for Melbourne Festival, Sydney Festival, Perth Festival and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. One of their most well-known works is the ‘Urban Dream Capsule’, a durational installation where visitors to the Bourke Street located work could watch five bald men 24 hours a day.  Red Arcade is open for a total of 11 days in the lead-up to the holiday period – making it the perfect fanta

The NGV's Friday Nights series is back for another round, and this time they’re pairing a string of gigs alongside the new Escher X nendo | Between Two Worlds. Few things go hand-in-hand like music and art, and NGV Friday Nights’ set-up is the best way to take in the latest NGV exhibition after dark while enjoying the best in local and international acts. This season’s line-up kicks off on December 7 with the line-up boasting some headline electronic artists and DJs including songwriter and producer Andy Bull, Melbourne duo Confidence Man, Sydney's Nicole Millar, record producer Jonti, Australian/Filipino artist Chela plus a special Saturday night DJ set from San Cisco on Saturday, April 6. Check the NGV website for full line-up details.