Things to do in Melbourne this week

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...

Peninsula Hot Springs is one of Melbourne's most loved self-care spots, providing a way to escape the city and fully unwind. But did you know you can combine the joys of a movie night with a relaxing bathing sesh? The wellness haven has brought back its Bathe in Cinema event, where you can watch a film from the comfort of your own hot spring, spread out among the Bath House Amphitheatre.  The Peninsula Hot Springs Bathe in Cinema runs every Thursday night at 7pm, until the last week of June. Guests can kick back and watch a film under the stars, staying warm with the heat of the hot springs. The weekly movie program is filled with classics, like Mrs. Doubtfire, You've Got Mail and Never Been Kissed.  The film screening is complimentary with bathhouse bathing (which starts from $75), you just need to add on the free bathe-in cinema option when checking out. If you feel like treating yourself and turning your bathing sesh into a getaway, book a stay at one of the new, ultra-relaxing Eco Lodges. If you're curious as to what this swish accommodation is really like, we visited to find out, and you can read about it here.  To learn more about the Bathe in Cinema event, head to the website.  Craving some time to unwind? Here are the best day spas in Melbourne. 

If there's one fantasy series to rule them all, it's hard to go past The Lord of the Rings. And now, Middle-earth is about to collide with our cultural capital, with the news that The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale, has landed in Melbourne. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved epic trilogy, the stage production is showing at the Comedy Theatre until June 22. This musical invites audiences to join the Hobbits on a quest, bringing Middle-earth to life with a cast of multi-skilled actor-musicians in a theatrical event that celebrates community, courage and camaraderie – featuring an original folk-inspired score.  *** Time Out Sydney reviewed The Lord of the Rings - A Musical Tale when it played at the State Theatre in January. Read on for that three-star review:   For elder Millennials like me, The Lord of the Rings franchise conjures memories of a simpler time: a time when movies were treated more like a coveted form of storytelling rather than just another option in an endless barrage of ‘content’ to ‘stream’. A time when I would go to the local cinema to watch each new instalment in the adventures of my favourite beardy boys club with my dad, who even loaded my sister and I into the car for a day trip to Sydney to check out an epic exhibition about how those epic movies were made across the ditch in New Zealand. (So many used prosthetics! So cool!) I believe that there’s elements of LOTR lore that are so inescapable that you need not have watched the movies or read the...

Snakes have curled their way around mythology for millennia. Present in countless creation stories from Egyptian, Greek and Indian to Norse and First Nations cultures (including the Rainbow Serpent), the loaded symbolism of this coiled creature clasping its tail between its fangs – the ouroboros – evokes eternity.  Sometimes the serpent holds the world together. Other times, it’s a constricting chaos agent. Either way, the fireside nature of myths, oft-shared in storytelling sessions spun under the stars, is inherently unending, melding anew with each retelling. Tackled by everyone from Roman poets Virgil and Ovid to Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire and Katee Robert’s queered novel, Midnight Ruin, the myth of Eurydice and her Orpheus finds new life in the hands of folk singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Her eight Tony Award-winning smash-hit musical Hadestown began life as a sung-through community project before she turned it into a concept album, and then a Broadway smash with help from director Rachel Chavkin. In most Greek tales, Eurydice and her Orpheus are happily married, torn apart by a cruel twist of fate: a viper’s bite (sometimes while pursued by toxic dudebro Aristaeus), not even a malicious god in disguise. As she fades into the Underworld, ruled over by Hades and his niece/abducted wife Persephone (!!!), a desolate Orpheus, son of a musical muse, plays his lyre like her life depends on it. Descending into the abyss and crossing the River Styx, he makes a...

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 pinstripe-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...

Looking for something to do this King's Birthday long weekend? Head up to the charming village of Woodend, located just an hour's drive from the CBD, for its annual Winter Arts Festival (WWAF) from June 6 to 9.  The diverse program features some of Australia’s leading classical musicians and greatest literary minds. Join in on discussions about a variety of big topics, as well as a talk from the great niece of legendary author Jane Austen.  For music fans, there's a wealth of sound to consume. The program features international artists exclusive to the festival, including violinist Anne Harvey-Nagl direct from Vienna, and Moroccan vocalist Lamiae Naki with her ensemble Seffarine, with a performance featuring flamenco dance.  Also on the line-up is a late-night show with jazz guitarist Chris Johnstone and two incredible performances from 8 Cellos, plus lots more.  Across the four-day feast of music, words and ideas there will also be book signings, workshops and exhibition openings to explore. The program features both free and ticketed events, and you can find out more via the WWAF website. Love exploring during the colder months? Check out our guide to the best winter getaways from Melbourne. 

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 global tour, previously selling out in cities like Boston and Madrid. It will be apparating into Melbourne on April 4, with tickets on sale now. You can find out more about this enchanting experience via the website.  Looking for more family-friendly things to do? Here's our guide to the best activities for kids in Melbourne. 

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.

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...

In 1984, director Trevor Nunn was doing press for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express when he offered the perfect maxim for a Webber fan: “Here is my money. Hit me with the experience.” Arguably none of Webber’s shows have hit harder than his 1971 rock-opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, which arrives at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre after a much-lauded run in Sydney. First revived at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016 for the show’s fiftieth anniversary, it’s been restaged in Australia by director Timothy Sheader. Sheader favours a ‘more is more’ approach, leaning into every ‘Webber-ism’ that made the show a success in the first place: rock'n'roll maximalism, near-inhuman vocal lines, emotional spectacle. No crucifix is too glittery or top note too loud. Megawatt vocals and an electric ensemble cast make it a cut above the other Webber revivals we’ve seen in the last couple years. Yet its heavy-handed approach also exposes the limits of spectacle for spectacle’s sake, even when it comes to Webber. It’s a dazzling experience, but ultimately soulless.  The curtain rises on a disassembled rock concert: amps, concert speaker boxes and microphone stands peppered around a set of towering balustrades, exposed steel beams and grating that hide the band. Set and costume Designer Tom Scutt puts us somewhere between Rent’s gritty urbanism and the steampunk simplicity of Hadestown. Meanwhile, lighting designer Lee Curran adds a splash of Mad Max to things by throwing dirty...