Get Ready For Melbourne’s Magic Week Of Major Events

  • Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events

The eyes of the world will be on Melbourne when the city hosts a blockbuster collection of major cultural and sporting events that are expected to draw more than 600,000 people into the CBD between Thursday and Sunday.

White Night Reimagined will showcase art across the city, transforming Birrarung Marr, Treasury Gardens and Carlton Gardens into themed precincts featuring live performances and art installations.

Mad Max: Fury Road in the forecourt of Melbourne Museum will be a must-see for many, bringing together live performance, film footage, projections and special effects from the famous Australian movie.

Cultural institutions including the National Gallery of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Museum and State Library Victoria will also offer special programming and will be open for extended hours.

Highlights include late-night viewings of the NGV’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition Terracotta Warriors & Cai Guo-Qiang and Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic at Arts Centre Melbourne.

At Marvel Stadium, more than 100,000 basketball fans will pour through the gates on Thursday and Saturday to see the Australian Boomers take on the USA on home soil for the first time since 2001.

The final round of the AFL home-and-away season will kick off on Friday night with an MCG showdown between arch-rivals Collingwood and Essendon, with more finals-shaping games to be held in Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat over the following two days.

These events will run alongside a collection of hot-ticket theatre productions led by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Come From Away and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Victoria’s major events are the envy of the world, renowned for their quality and variety, and generate more than $1.8 billion in economic benefit annually for the state.

The Andrews Labor Government is working with event organisers and Victoria Police to maximise the enjoyment of all those who will take part in Victoria’s latest week of wonder.

Visitors to the CBD are encouraged to plan ahead with road closures and tow-away zones in place for White Night Reimagined while basketball fans will pass through airport-style security at Marvel Stadium.

White Night Reimagined events end at midnight on Thursday and Friday, and 2am on Sunday. Public transport will run overnight as usual on Friday and Saturday with extra services during regular times of operation provided on all three nights. For more information on White Night Reimagined, go to whitenight.com.au/Melbourne.

As noted by Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula

“Melbourne is a global city and the collection of attractions on offer this week underscores why we are the events capital of Australia.”

“These blockbusters bring thousands of visitors to Victoria and keep our hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes buzzing, and that means jobs for Victorians.”

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