Fiona Kazan

The Australian Music Vault opened in December 2017 and was pitched as a way to celebrate the legacy of Australian music. The exhibition space, which is located inside Arts Centre Melbourne, held a year-long celebration of Australia's rock'n'roll past and in 2019 decided to shake things up a bit with a new exhibition dedicated to Australian hip hop.  Currently, the Australian Music Vault is showcasing how this popular genre has evolved since its introduction in the 1980s to where it stands today. Included in the exhibition will be a display of costumes, microphones, awards and rare records from over 30 Australian hip hop artists and labels, including Melbourne’s rising hip hop star Baker Boy and Sydney’s veteran MC and producer, Urthboy. Keep an eye out for exciting events happening at the Vault including hip hop lyric writing workshops for teenagers with hip hop artist N'Fa Jones. 

Trapt’s ‘SPACE’ room teleports us into a futuristic space station far, far away from Earth. After signing a waiver to submit ourselves to inter-galactic travels, the five of us were ushered into this spacious, futuristic room with an array of electronic displays in front of us. It was like entering the USS Enterprise, except there’s no trusty Captain James T. Kirk around to help us. We had 50 minutes to escape from this suspicious space station, before it self-destructed and annihilated planet Earth. The staff said this was Trapt’s most challenging escape room, having technically two “escapes” combined into one. You reach a point in the escape where you have the chance to finish and exit through your exit door, or you can choose to continue to a second, more difficult challenge in a separate room. It’s suggested you only start the second part if you have time to spare – those who have done many escape rooms will likely want to challenge themselves with both parts. The room had an intricate mix of numerical and interactive symbol-based puzzles sprawled over the first two areas, which we managed to unlock with great effort. We punched in a lot of numerical combinations, yelled at each other across rooms about codes that barely even makes sense, and even accidentally forced open a cabinet just because we were that enthusiastic in finding clues. Although some of the props were a bit flimsy (and there were a few red herrings – beware!), it was still an exciting experience overall.

Rejoice Melburnians, you no longer need to travel 16,662 km to get a taste of New York’s popular weekend booze-filled brunch buffets. South Melbourne restaurant Half Acre has launched a permanent all-you-can-eat New York-style buffet brunch after trialling the event during this year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (both brunches held sold out). Get a slice of the Big Apple with a generous selection of dishes. Try scrumptious treats like challah French toast with rosewater berry compote and baked pear; saffron and bay leaf custard with walnut crumble; tangy tomato shakshuka (baked eggs); and oven-roasted figs with stracciatella di bufala. Photograph: Supplied In addition to the buffet table there is a DIY bottomless vodka bar. You can even mix up your own citrusy vodka drink with add-ons like ginger crisps (if you’re up for spice) or cinnamon sticks (if you’re more of a sweet tooth). This bottomless brunch is available every Saturday and Sunday from 11.30am to 2pm, and you can book a spot here for $65 per person. For more boozy weekend action check out our list of Melbourne's best bottomless brunches. An underground karaoke room has opened in Fitzroy.

The City of Melbourne has announced new reinvigoration plans for the city’s iconic Queen Victoria Market. The plans are primarily focused on improving market infrastructure and car parking in the area, but also include a big new public space.  Included in the plan is the goal to create 1,000 new parking spaces for customers, which is an additional 280 spaces from the current capacity of 720. Five hundred car parks are already in the works as part of the adjacent Munro development (set to be completed in 2021) with 500 more spots planned for a future southern development site on Franklin Street outside the Hoddle Grid.  Lord mayor Sally Capp noted that once the new car parks are complete, the existing car park (located on Franklin Street) will be transformed into Market Square, a new 1.5-hectare public open space. Capp is anticipating it to become "Melbourne's largest new urban public area." Other improvements mentioned include restoring the heritage sheds, improving the market’s opening hours for customers, as well as refurbishing the heritage-listed Elizabeth and Victoria Street terraces. If the plans are approved, Queen Victoria Market will undergo its largest upgrade to date. It was considered to be the local government's "largest investment in its history" back when it was first announced in October of 2013. The latest master plan for the upgrades has been shaped by feedback from more than 7,500 Melburnians including market traders, shoppers and local residents.  If y

Help planet Earth become a better place by participating in this year’s Earth Hour. Originally started by WWF in Sydney back in 2007, the movement has only grown even more in number since then. As of last year, a record of 18,000 landmarks in 7,000 cities have participated, all in the name of reducing the causes of climate change. Melburnians, you can also give back to Mother Earth by switching off your lights for one hour this Saturday, March 30 from 8.30 to 9.30pm. Some of our city’s popular spots will be participating as well, so be on the lookout to see them switch their vibrant LED and neon lights for a more ‘natural’ lighting (or limited to emergency/safety low lighting, to be exact). Check out the list below: AAMI Park How about an imaginary footy game in the dark? Federation Square Can you even imagine Fed Square's huge screen without its signature changing colours? Luna Park Melbourne Maybe Mr Moon’s face won’t look as scary anymore. Melbourne Zoo Perhaps it’s like seeing life through the eyes of the owls and possums.   The Melbourne Star It’s happening: the city’s brightest star will stop illuminating our skies for one straight hour. West Gate Bridge FYI, that’s going to be around 2,582.6 metres of darkness. Read more about Earth Hour and what you can do to contribute here. Melbourne is now home to an inner-city park on a rooftop.

Relive the thrill of Australia’s historic gold rush through Aura, Sovereign Hill’s new sound and light show. The new nighttime show is an immersive multi-sensory experience, featuring hundreds of projections over 26 hectares of the Sovereign Hill site. Starting with the Wadawurrung creation story, the show explores how the discovery of gold changed Ballarat forever. Think about it as if you were travelling back in time under the night sky. The show was created in partnership between the Sovereign Hill’s historical experts and Andrew Walsh's Accolade event management team. These are the people behind the first four years of White Night, so you know you’re in for a treat. Photograph: Supplied Ticket prices for Aura starts from $34.40 for children and up to $64 for adults, while kids aged under five can go in for free. Each show will run for 90 minutes and show times will vary according to the month (and sunset times as well) so visit the website for the exact schedule. Don’t forget to wear warm clothing and flat walking shoes too as the show will be held outdoors. If you also want to grab some food before the show, two-course pre-show dinners are also to book separately, as well. For overall ticket and accommodation bookings, head here. For further information on Aura, you can visit Sovereign Hill’s website here. Love light projections? Check out this mini street projection festival happening in Fitzroy.

The City of Melbourne has announced plans to revitalise the southern part of Moonee Ponds Creek with the possibility of additional parklands, wetlands and new open spaces.  Described as one of Melbourne’s "worst planning disasters" by the Planning Institute of Australia in 2011, Moonee Ponds Creek has been struggling with its lifeless waterways and extremely polluted waters since it was converted into a concrete channel back in the 1970s. To make matters worse, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) measured in 2016-17 that its water quality is a zero out of ten, indicating that it's at a level of pollution that will kill most organisms.   A duck swimming amongst rubbish floating down the Moonee Ponds Creek, adjacent to Macauley Station. Photograph: Dan Gordon/Creative Commons   Labor MP Tony Burke started a petition in January 2019 seeking priority status for the creek's revitalisation. After it started making waves, the City of Melbourne presented a draft proposal at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 19. If everything goes through as planned, areas alongside the creek trail, from Brunswick Road to Docklands, will be receiving some long-awaited upgrades. "The plan outlines ideas for increased biodiversity, mitigating the impacts of flooding, creating new bike paths and more space for recreation," councillor Cathy Oke, chair of the City of Melbourne's environmental portfolio, announced through a media release on Friday, March 15. Other opportunit

It’s not a stretch to say that Melbourne has become pretty obsessed with gin lately. Luckily, us Melburnians have always been obsessed with cheese – so why not combine the two together? Coco from winery tour operators Coco's Tours has added a new gin and cheese tour to her repertoire of private group tours, allowing you to experience Coco's own favourite gin and cheese spots in the Yarra Valley.  The tour will include a visit to two gin distilleries with tastings provided at each spot, followed by a cheese tasting experience at Coco’s favourite cheese farm. There will also be a fun lunch experience with a breathtaking view of the Yarra Valley, where generous cheese and charcuterie platters are served just for you. If you’re looking to take a relaxing day off from the bustling city life, this might do the trick. You can book your spot here for $139 per person. This includes minibus transport from 10am until 5pm, all tastings, lunch and pick up and drop off at Windsor train station on Chapel Street (though the location can be negotiable for your group). Tours are available for groups of 8 to -23 people. Looking for other tours in the Yarra Valley? Check out these standout winery tours.

To celebrate International Women’s Day this Friday, The Everleigh, Heartbreaker and the Everleigh Bottling Co. are hosting a group-wide initiative to celebrate the work of women in the drinks industry. The two venues will be serving a female-crafted drinks menu, donating $1 for every drink purchase to Fitted For Work, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping disadvantaged women in securing employment. The championing drink is the classic Hanky Panky cocktail (gin, sweet vermouth and Fernet-Branca) invented by renowned bartender of the Savoy, Ada Coleman, in 1910. You can get a bottled version online at the Everleigh Bottling Co. At the Fitzroy establishment, there are six cocktails on the menu created by other amazing female bartenders, including Dark and Hoppy (Gosling’s rum, ginger, lime and, IPA) by Zara Madrusan, co-owner of Made in the Shade group (these guys own the Everleigh and Heartbreaker). If you're more of a beer person, Heartbreaker is also serving beers brewed by women on their tap list, so there’s something for everyone. The Everleigh Bottling Co. will start donating drinks sold up until March 8, while The Everleigh and Heartbreaker will do so only on Friday, March 8. It’s time to have some great drinks and doing good at the same time, so don’t miss your chance. ICYMI Melbourne is getting a New York-style basement bar from the Everleigh crew.

Whether you’re a race car aficionado or don't have a single clue about cars, you can make Ciao Cielo's unlimited spritz and pizza offer an easy reason to celebrate Melbourne's upcoming F1 Grand Prix weekend.  From March 16 to 17, punters can enjoy an exciting array of woodfired pizzas accompanied by six different types of spritzes, all for $48 per person.  And it’s not just Aperol Spritzes, either. Get amongst an English Garden (with Tanqueray gin, elderflower liqueur, apple, mint and soda) or a Summer Spritz (with Pimm’s, cucumber, strawberries, citrus, lemonade and mint). There’s also an Italian fave in the mix, as well – a Limoncello Spritz (with limoncello liqueur, Prosecco, soda and candy lemon). Photograph: Supplied Pizza wise, guests can dig into classic Margarita pizza as well as whatever’s on the specials menu – think anything from pumpkin to pork cheek and taleggio. If you'd rather avoid the frenzy of F1 weekend, lucky for you this offer will also continue every following Sunday until the end of April, where you can book any two-hour session between noon and 3pm. Book your spot online here. Looking for other refreshing drink offers? Check out this frozen gin cocktail bar.

Enjoy a chill day out this sunny weekend with free scoops of gelato in Lygon Street. To celebrate their first birthday, Lavezzi Gelateria will be giving out one free scoop of gelato (or sorbet) to each customer who visits their Carlton branch on Saturday, February 23 from 5-8pm. Feel free to choose between scrumptious peanut butter and Nutella swirl gelato, refreshing watermelon sorbet, or any of their 20+ available flavours. Plus, one lucky customer over the weekend will be in it to win the Ultimate Gelati Prize, which entitles them to exclusive 90-minute access to the Lavezzi Gelati Cart stocked with four of their favourite flavours, at an event or location of their choice in the next 12 months. Anyone who’s looking to impress their mates, family or loved ones, this might be your best chance to earn some street cred. To enter, visitors are invited to take a photo with their favourite Lavezzi gelati or sorbet, upload it on Instagram tagging @LavezziGelato with the hashtag #LavezziTurns1 before 8pm on Sunday, February 24. For more ways to make the most of Melbourne’s summer, check out this Hawaiian shaved ice food truck.