Where: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
What: All-Night Cultural Event
Website: White Night Melbourne

If you could only be in Melbourne for one weekend, and want to see as much of the city as possible, choose White Night. From 7pm to 7am, parts of central Melbourne are lit up and dozens of  art installations, live performances and some truly bizarre stuff are on display.

Attracting well over half a million people, White Night is only in its third year, and the Andrews government has promised its continuation into the future. Like many artistic, and cultural events, it is very hard to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it.

Artistic projections adorned some of the city’s historic buildings while local and international artists displayed multimedia art installations. Oddly enough, while there was local and world music on display, it was a quiet night in Australia’s Live Music capital.

There were moments of true wonder. The inside of the State Library Dome, during the light show and musical accompaniment of ‘Eat Me’ (there was a recurring ‘Wonderland’ theme in many of the larger sites). The 4 Elements projections at the Royal Exhibition Building was something to behold. Conversely, there were a few places where I would give the installations a miss. There’s a lot of weird stuff, but art is, of course, subjective.

I rushed it, and got to all of the sites in the space of six hours. It’s a heck of a hike, up and down streets, right up to the Exhibition Building, and Museum, and down to the Queen Victoria Gardens. Walking from one end to another is 2.5 km, and the majority of the sites are in an area three blocks wide. I suggest you spread it out. Take time to sit and watch some musicians, enjoy some food, or just see something you never thought you’d see. White Night has something for everyone.