Things to do in Melbourne in July

What’s better than gorging yourself on scones, finger sandwiches and Champagne at a regular high tea? Gorging yourself on piles and piles of cheese at the Westin’s un-brie-lievable High Cheese event, of course. Yes, the insanely successful event is back at the Westin's Allegro Restaurant for another year, and we turophiles couldn't be more thrilled. The idea for High Cheese first crystallised a few years ago when the Westin's executive chef at the time, Michael Greenlaw, teamed up with Anthony Demia from Maker and Monger to bring a series of cheeses together in both sweet and savoury dishes. Years later, the much-loved tradition continues. In 2025, the indulgent menu has been curated in collaboration with renowned cheese masters, brother-sister duo the Studd Siblings and vino legends Zonzo Estate. Ellie and Sam Studd, both members of the International Guilde des Fromagers and Certified Cheese Professionals, have joined forces with the Westin's executive chef, Apoorva Kunte, to curate an enticing three-tiered selection of dairy-licious treats. We're listening... Each creation showcases the finest quality cheese from around the world, with each tier crafted to highlight bold flavour, balance and technique. Highlights from the menu include Aphrodite Barrel aged organic fetta with tomato and lychee tartare, Woombye triple cream brie with pickled beetroot and raspberry almond pesto, and a shared baked Le Conquérant camembert with thyme and garlic. Yum! And a high tea wouldn't...

Way back when Tim Burton was a much weirder filmmaker, my wee brother and I were unreasonably thrilled by the chaos engine of awfully bad behaviour that was Michael Keaton’s unhinged and unwashed demon, Betelgeuse.  The grotty stripe-suited monster ate up the 1988 film of not quite the same name – the studio figured folks would stay away unless the title was simplified to Beetlejuice. Named after the red supergiant star blazing ferociously in the constellation of Orion, some 600 light years from our solar system, Betelgeuse is an outcast from the hilariously bureaucratic afterlife, aka the Netherworld. Which leaves him preying on the naïve recently deceased, like sweet young couple Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), in an attempt to crowbar open the sort of ridiculous loophole the Greek gods are fond of. Say his – apparently too complex – name three times and he’ll be unleashed on the mortal coil once more.  But Betelgeuse’s sleazy attentions are soon distracted by Winona Ryder’s goth child Lydia, when she reluctantly moves into Adam and Barbara’s now-empty house with her dad, Charles (disgraced actor Jeffrey Jones), and his new squeeze, OTT sculptor Delia (fabulously demented goddess Catherine O’Hara). A smash hit, Beetlejuice is a wild and unruly thing writhing with unhinged ideas, from its stop-animated black and white sand worms to characters shrunk into a model of sleepy town Winter River, and on to the hilariously-depicted dead of the surreal...

Melbourne's favourite illuminated event is back again for a fourth year, with more than 20 dazzling new light installations to meander through in wonderment. From June 20 to August 10, take a nighttime stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens and experience luminous pathways, lit-up tree canopies, soothing soundscapes and more spectacular sights. For the upcoming season, you can expect a reimagined 2.2km trail accompanied by stunning lakeside reflections, large-scale illuminated sculptures and other wonders, with more than 100,000 tiny lights on display. Expect 2025 highlights to be huge illuminated canopy of flowers and the mesmerising 'lawn of light'. Most importantly, you'll also be able to grab a bite to eat and warming drinks, like hot chocolate and mulled wine, at the Welcome Zone or along the trail. They say that Melbourne is at its best in winter and events like Lightscape, where you can rug up and join friends for a magical experience, are a big reason why. Adult tickets start at $36 and are available through the website – be quick as they tend to go fast.  Want more? Check out the best things happening in Melbourne this week.

French Impressionism is host to arguably some of the most famous (and most loved) artists of all time. Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Van Gogh and Degas are just some of the artists who achieved such acclaim that they remain household names even a century after their deaths. And this winter, you can see some of the artist's most beautiful and well-known works right here in Melbourne at the NGV's new exhibition, French Impressionism: From the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. From June 5 to October 5, 2025, the NGV will host more than 100 French Impressionist works by artists like Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne and Mary Cassatt – including works never before seen in Australia. The exhibition is running in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which is well regarded for its collection of French Impressionist masterpieces.    A highlight is the display of 16 canvases in one gallery, painted over a 30-year period, by Claude Monet. These works depict many of Monet’s most beloved scenes of nature in Argenteuil, the Normandy coast, the Mediterranean coast and his famous garden in Giverny.  One of the best things about this exhibition is that you will also learn the stories of the artists, exhibitions and collectors that shaped this significant movement in art history. Originally brought to the NGV back in 2021, this exhibition had to close just after it opened due to (yep, you guessed it), the...

Try as you might, it is awfully hard to see every single comedian at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF). The good news is you've been given a second swing at the best of the fest, with Comedy Republic's Replay Festival. For the entire month of July, Replay Festival is bringing some of the top MICF shows for a second round on stage. On the line-up are more than 40 comedians, including breakout acts, award nominees and critically acclaimed favourites who sold our their original runs. We're talking the likes of Scout Boxall, Brett Blake, Alex Ward, Gillian Cosgriff, Lloyd Langford, Nick White, Robyn Reynolds, Takashi Wagasuki and Greg Larsen, to name a few. Plus, US comedian Liza Treygor will also make an appearance, fresh off the debut of her Netflix special. Whether you couldn't get a ticket the first time around, or just want to keep the laughs going, Replay Festival is a guaranteed good time. Oh, and it also offers vital support to Melbourne's arts community in an otherwise quiet time of the year. What's not to love? Find out more and buy tickets here. Keen to keep laughing? Here's where you can see regular comedy in Melbourne.

Admired worldwide for its elegant silhouette and intricate details, the kimono has been an integral, yet constantly evolving, pillar of Japanese fashion for hundreds of years. The iconic straight-cut wrap with matching belt (obi) first appeared in the Heian period (784-1185) alongside the shifting of the island nation’s seat of government to Kyoto. Originally worn by working class people, they were practical and simple, but soon became ubiquitous, adopted by nobility, warriors and everyday folks alike.When Japan opened its borders to the world in the mid-19th century, stunning examples made their way out across the globe. In turn, fashion designers began putting their spin on the national dress. They’re not frozen in time at home, either, with contemporary Japanese designers throwing out the rule book and adapting the look to take it in exciting new directions, as well as honouring tradition in unique ways.  If your budget can’t quite stretch as far as a trip to Japan right now, then the next best thing is winding your way towards St Kilda Road’s NGV International instead. Dazzling exhibition Kimono, on display until October 5, showcases the extraordinary range of the once-humble outfit.  There are 70 beautiful examples on show, including seven newly acquired silk and ramie kimono, once belonging to samurai and merchant families, that date back to the Edo period (1603-1867). You’ll be able to learn about the layers of meaning stitched into recurring motifs like the eternal...

You might think water parks and winter don't mix (especially down here in Victoria). But Geelong's Adventure Park isn't letting a little cold weather stop it from providing Victorians with a good time – in fact, it's provided a little inspiration.  Adventure Park's Winter Glow event is bringing lights, fire, ice and snow to the amusement park this winter. The festival (which is running until August 9) features fire twirling, ice sculptures and 3.3 million lights that will twinkle all around the park along a two-kilometre trail. While real snow might be a rare sight in Geelong, there will be a huge snow play zone (the largest outside of the ski resorts) where kids can make snowmen and snow angels  –warm gloves, gumboots and jackets are recommended!  Eight theme park rides are included in entry, including the Tea Cups, Air Balloons, Crazy Coaster, Wave Swinger, Grand Carousel, Red Baron, Little Buggy Speedway and Ferris Wheel (what a way to see the park all lit up). Face painting and marshmallow toasting will be on offer for the kids, while adults can enjoy a spiked hot chocolate, mulled wine or spiced cider. And lots of delicious novelty food items available to dine on, too. Winter Glow is on at Adventure Park until August 9. Find out more here. Keen for more winter fun? Here are the best things to do in July.

When the gauzy wall of Christina Smith’s simple but effective set swooshes up, sweeping us into the first of five apartments we will visit during Mother Play – subtitled A Play in Five Evictions – it is impossible to escape the all-commanding presence of Sigrid Thornton.  Clad in a fur coat and sporting a bouffant wig of Nicole Kidman-level mightiness, even before she is spun around to face us in a classically stylish Eames chair, her imperiously anxious Phyllis exerts the magnetic pull of a black hole. And that’s more or less where we find ourselves in this latest work from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, who borrows her own mother’s name and a little of their personal history. In a dingy basement apartment that Phyllis has negotiated for a steal on the back-breaking deal: her beloved son, Carl (Ash Flanders), will take out the trash.  If you ask his younger sister, Martha (Yael Stone), that could include their mother, whose absence of tenderness consumes all around her, except the scraps claimed by the cockroaches that infest their newfound home, as playfully projected by lighting designer Niklas Pajanti and, in one memorably goofy moment, portrayed by a waving puppet. They find themselves in this perilously impoverished situation because the kids’ father, Phyllis’ philandering ex, has upped and left them. An absence rather than an unseen presence, he’s rarely mentioned. Phyllis is mostly furious that her postal service typing pool gig now must sustain all...

Mark your calendars and grab your warmest winter woolies, Melburnians: Queen Victoria Market's beloved Winter Night Market is back. From June 4 to August 27 you can spend cosy Wednesday evenings enjoying live entertainment, huddling around open fires and feasting on goodies from a selection of global street food stalls, carts, trucks and festival bars. This year, expect to see beloved traders from previous years, as well as a number of new and exciting additions across the market's roaring 13-week season. Highlights include piping hot soup served in a bread roll by the Soup Factory (lobster chowder, anyone?), juicy smash burgers by Smashville and ginormous churro bowls of chocolate-drizzled vanilla ice cream, courtesy of Churro Kitchen. And check out all the newbies making an appearance this year! Take your pick from artisan-made hot pasta dishes from La Trafila, cannoli from Cannoleria, heavenly bowls of laksa from Laksa Shack, plus raclette and actual French garlic butter snails from The Little Paris. As always, you can expect roving performers, tarot reading, the famous silent disco and a rotating line-up of homegrown talent. After sipping and snacking, be sure to explore dozens of specialty stalls selling one-of-a-kind treaures including jewellery, art, vintage fashion, skincare, books and homewares.  Find out more at the Queen Victoria Winter Night Market website. Looking for more things to do? Check out our round-up of the best things happening in Melbourne this week.

Update July 24: To celebrate the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter: The Exhibition is offering witches, wizards and muggles $11 tickets on July 31 in honour of Harry's birthday. (In case you forgot, he was 11 when he received his Hogwarts letter). Visitors on that day can expect some very special birthday surprises and a dose of nostalgic magic... Get your wands at the ready, because Melbourne is set to play host to the Australian premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition. This behind-the-scenes extravaganza will leave Potterheads spellbound, and features interactive recreations of famous film scenes, props and costumes from the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a multimedia experience featuring the Whomping Willow, dementors, the Marauder's Map and the chance to conjure a Patronus charm. Budding witches and wizards will be sorted into Hogwarts houses and earn points as they explore the exhibition – it could be through a potions class, predicting the future à la Professor Trelawney in Divination or defeating a boggart in Defence Against the Dark Arts. There will also be opportunities to practice spell casting and Quidditch skills, plus win golden snitch medallions to become a model student. Each experience comes with plenty of photo ops and, of course, magical interactive moments. There's even a recreation of the Great Hall for visitors to enjoy in all its splendour, complete with floating candles.  This official Harry Potter exhibition is part of a...