Things to do in Melbourne in June

You may remember this outdoor pop-up from way back in winter 2019 – those sweet old days before a certain you-know-what had Melburnians sheltering in their homes for a dark winter. Thankfully, this winter is looking up with the Winter Village's (faux) snow-covered activation landing back in town from May 13 to August 29.  The Skyline Terrace at Federation Square has once again transformed into a free, family-friendly winter wonderland complete with ice skating, food trucks and pop-up bars, as well as a magical igloo village.  There are winter-themed treats perfect for keeping warm, or you can book a private igloo and get a food and beverage package that starts at $49 per person. There's a whole host of fun events and activities expected to happen throughout the season including cheap skating days, brunch and skate packages and family fun days so you'll no doubt return more than once. The Winter Village is open seven days a week and is free to enter. Ice skating starts at $10 for toddlers, $18 for children and $26 for adults. More info on the website. 

The weather outside may be frightful, but Eynesbury is embracing it with a whole festival dedicated to all things winter. Experience this month-long roster of chilly events from June 25 to July 25 including ice skating, live music, movie nights and warming food and drinks. The Eynesbury Winter Festival has a magical ice skating rink as its centrepiece. Get your skates on and glide around with friends and fam or mark your calendar with one of the festival's cute events on the ice. Head in on a Thursday night with your main squeeze for a skate date with delicious feeds from Ms Peacock available and romantic drink specials. Or attempt to bump and grind on the ice with an R’n’B DJ-led skate night every Friday. On Saturday July 10, there's also a Winter Solstice with a fireworks display, toasty bonfire, food trucks and a marshmallow roasting pit. There's also a dog-friendly Eynesbury Market to look forward to on the closing day of the festival, July 25. The rest of the fest is devoted to all things winter fun. Test your frosty brain with trivia nights, bring the gremlins along to kids day with face painting, balloons and all the tyke-entertaining trimmings or have a skate and enjoy live music from 2pm on Sundays. The festival is also continuing to shower you in ice with perfectly-matched movie nights where you can settle in and watch Blades of Glory, Frozen, The Mighty Ducks or Home Alone. The cold won't bother you as much when you're well fed. The Eynesbury Winter Festival is als

The NGV's Friday Nights series is back for another round, and this time they’re pairing a string of gigs alongside the highly anticipated exhibition French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 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 music. Performing in the NGV's Great Hall every Friday night from June to early October, this season's line-up will feature the likes of Alice Ivy, Husky, Eilish Gilligan, Ali Barter, Squid Nebula, Akosia, Soloman Sisay and heaps more. See the full line-up on NGV's website. To tie in with the exhibition, each night also features French-inspired food from French vendors – think pommes frites, croque monsieur and duck and cherry parfaits. Drinks are available too, via the Yering Station Wine Bar, the Asahi Bar or the Pommery Champagne Bar for that real taste of France.  NGV Friday Nights runs June 25 to October 1. Tickets are available now. 

After a massive renovation, ACMI is ready to host big winter masterpieces exhibitions again. And our national museum of screen culture isn’t holding back, announcing a huge 90-year showcase of Disney animation with a glimpse behind the scenes at Walt Disney Animation Studios, one of the world’s most prolific animation studios.  Now open, the exhibition features over 500 original artworks that date from the 1920s to the present day, including sketches and concept art from Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie to new release Raya and the Last Dragon. Every piece exhibited has been specially selected by the Disney Animation Research Library (which, crazily, has around 65 million pieces of art from the Disney headquarters). It’s safe to say those early Mickey and Minnie cartoons look a hell of a lot different to what we watch today. This exhibition shines a spotlight on Disney’s pioneering artistry and technical innovation, as well as the filmmakers and storytellers that have worked with Disney over the years.  Disney: The Magic of Animation is on at ACMI until October. Child tickets are $17, concession tickets are $22.50 and adult tickets are $26. 

Let’s start with the most important thing. Yes, Jemma Rix sings Elsa’s mega-hit song ‘Let It Go’ as the barnstorming closer to act one of this musical staged version of Disney’s Frozen. And yes, she absolutely goddamn nails it.  The story, as any seven-year-old could tell you, is this: Princess Elsa was born with the ability to create snow and ice from her fingertips, but after accidentally wounding her sister and best friend, Anna, she is convinced to hide her powers beneath thick gloves and a frosty veneer of detachment. That strategy is bad for sororal bonding but good for the safety of the kingdom, until the demands of a glove-free and highly emotive coronation day release a literal and metaphorical storm. Details get somewhat hazy after that, with various characters going up and down the mountain that overlooks the sisters’ home of Arendelle, but there’s a talking snowman, an affable reindeer and various degrees of cold and winter clothing involved. The animated version of the story is focused on Elsa, whose platinum fishtail braid adorns lunchboxes the world over. But the stage version is much more centred on Anna, a kindhearted goofball played with true joy and charm by Courtney Monsma. Her singing is more than up to the task of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s music, with a voice that’s Broadway-ready without going the full Ethel Merman. Her dancing is sharp and graceful, but it’s her physical comedy timing and willingness to commit to slapstick that make her

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. Yes, the insanely successful, sold-out event is back for 2021. The idea for High Cheese began when Westin executive chef Michael Greenlaw teamed up with Anthony Demia from Maker and Monger to bring a series of cheeses together in both sweet and savoury dishes. High Cheese brings some favourites from last year's menu plus a few new additions to the table. Dig into alpine cheese scones with white wine and Gippsland Jersey butter, baked le Duc Vacherin with garlic, thyme and wine with quinoa, soya and amaranth sourdough, Cervelle de canut finger lime spread with Yarra Valley Dairy fresh curd and Roquefort and cognac dip with beurre bosc pear spiced chutney and housemade crackers.  Usually the Westin's High Cheese is priced at $98 per person and is available every day from 11am until 8pm. That price includes free-flowing coffee, tea and hot chocolate but you can also grab a glass of wine or Champagne which is priced by the glass. At present, the Westin realises we can't leave our houses, so you can have this experience at home courtesy of Providoor. A new takeaway option is available for $120 and it includes a High Cheese at Home hamper stuffed with sweet and savoury treats. Order yours here.

The first rule of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is that you don’t talk about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Safeguarding spoilers is an expected responsibility for anyone who attends the Potter-verse’s first on-stage outing. There’s even a hashtag: #KeepTheSecrets. But in truth (as far as theatre critique is concerned, at least), JK Rowling needn’t have worried. This marathon, five-hour spectacle has a plot so dense and sprawling, so wonderfully, unashamedly elaborate, it would take many thousands of words more than any theatre review to even scratch the surface. While we may have been sworn to secrecy about Cursed Child’s plot, we can reveal that the hype – and rarely has a piece of theatre ever generated such fever-pitched buzz – is entirely deserved. And not just because of the quality of the production. The masterminds behind the show – led by Rowling, playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany – have not merely set out to put on a play, but rather craft a rich and detailed immersive experience. To this end, Melbourne’s Princess Theatre has undergone a top to bottom $6.5 million makeover, transforming its interiors to match a Hogwartsian, Potterfied aesthetic. If this sounds like an unnecessary extravagance, it’s probably an indication this play isn’t for you. The success of Cursed Child, which has smashed box office records on Broadway and the West End, is powered by its unapologetic exclusivity. Those without any prior knowledge of Harry and co will be baf

Hop on the Melbourne Star observation wheel this winter, and you’ll be able to experience Melbourne’s CBD skyline with a few extra winter comforts. Punters can take a 30-minute ride in a private, heated glass cabin and curl up on a comfy bean bag while you do it. Plus, you can sip on warm mulled wine and dig into a cheese platter complete with croutes, muscatel grapes and quince paste.   Melbourne Star’s floating winter chalet experience starts at $55 per person for a group of six or intimate two-person rides which start at $92 per person. The Winter Chalet experience runs Thursday to Monday between June 21-25, as well as between July 12 and August 31. Head to the website for all the details. 

Maybe you’re a lifelong fan of Lego. Maybe you got hooked on Lego Masters. Maybe you’re a huge dinosaur fan and have a shrine to Jeff Goldblum and the original Jurassic Park movies. Whatever your fascination, this new exhibition might be for you. Ryan ‘the Brickman’ McNaught, the only Australian Lego certified “professional”, has announced his next big Lego exhibition set to hit Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.  From April 1 to July 11, you’ll be able to enter an immersive Lego experience set to be the largest Lego experience in Aussie history. Made in partnership with the Jurassic World franchise, this new event will have over 50 large-scale dinosaurs, props, scenes and activities made using over six million Lego bricks.  If you’re familiar with the franchise, you’ll be able to recognise Isla Nublar, the science labs of Jurassic Park, a petting zoo and maybe even pose with life-size Lego dinosaurs. Keep an eye out of the Brachiosaurus, which weighs over two tonnes.  Tickets are on sale from March 11, via this link. Prices start at $25, and there's discounts for concessions and family groups). 

To be clear, we didn't need to rereview Magic Mike Live. Having had its Australian premiere in Sydney at the start of 2021 months ago with the same cast, it’s arguable that our resources might be better spent elsewhere. Damn the resources. Magic Mike Live is the most fun a girl (or a guy!) can have in a tent. This show is physically magnificent and emphatically women-focused (almost) from the get-go. We say almost, because a cheeky bluff at the beginning has you double guessing what you've signed up for – but it’s a ruse that's swiftly clarified as the cast of charismatic dancers shake, grind and thrust through 90 minutes of pure, unadulterated celebration of the human form.  That form is largely male, but Magic Mike Live also features some cleverly inserted female dancers who are more than on par with the masculine stars of the show. The cast was certainly fortunate to pick out certain “audience participants” so skilled in contemporary dance – most notably a formidably liquid Clare Bilson, who brings down the house in a breathtaking performance with an equally dynamic Anthony Bartley (the “Mike” for our performance).  Magic Mike Live declares "you can have whatever you want", and it delivers on that statement. Host Alexia and her imaginary unicorn lead the mostly female audience through a journey seen from the female gaze, with a narrative thread steeped in sensuality and respect. The live show is based off the two smash hit Magic Mike films, starring dancer-turned-actor Cha