The Weekender: January 15 – 17
EVERYTHING is awesome this weekend! Visit a LEGO exhibition, ring in the Lunar New Year at Melbourne Showgrounds, experience food from around the world or celebrate queer culture!
Tet Lunar New Year Festival
January 16 – 17 (11.00am – 11.00pm) | Melbourne Showgrounds (Epson Rd, Ascot Vale)
Photo: IQRemix via Flickr
If you’re not gonna be able to head home to celebrate the Lunar New Year, visit the Melbourne Showgrounds this weekend where you can break in the 2016 Lunar New Year and have a ball of a time.
The Tet Lunar New Year Festival will be hosted by the Vietnamese Community in Victoria and each year attracts locals and internationals for an array of things to do.
Expect plenty of Vietnamese street food, rides and games, live entertainment and a fireworks display to cap the evening off.
Entry into the festival will set you back $6.00.
For more information, visit the event’s official Facebook page.
Field of Flavours
Sunday, January 17 (1.00pm – 9.30pm) | Melbourne Cricket Ground (Brunton Avenue, Richmond)
Photo: Scott Edmunds via Flickr
Inspired by the food markets of the world, Cricket Australia invites visitors to head down to the MCG this weekend to experience cuisines from all around the world.
The Field of Flavours will showcase foods from India (Auto Rickshaw, Dhaba), Vietnam (Nem N’Nem), Jamaican (Boss Man Food) and Hong Kong (Let’s Do Yum Cha) with live entertainment offered throughout the day.
Cricket will also be running simultaneously that day if participants would like to also see the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series between Australia and India.
To learn more about the event, head over to Field of Flavours’ official website.
Brickvention 2016
January 16 – 17 (9.00am – 5.30pm) | Royal Exhibition Building (9 Nicholson St, Carlton)
Photo: JD Hancock via Flickr
You don’t need to be a master builder to enjoy creating things out of LEGO and this weekend, you can do just that and more when Brickvention rolls into town.
A two day public exhibition, Brickvention invites fans of LEGO to see original and fantastical creations built by Australian and international modellers and collectors. See constructed models of trains, castles, ships or marvel at the LEGO recreations of famous scenes from Star Wars or Harry Potter.
A building area will also be available for those wishing to spend time creating their own LEGO masterpieces as well as a sales area where you can buy LEGO sets and other merchandise.
Find out more by visiting Contravention’s official website.
Midsumma Festival
Sunday, January 17 – Sunday, February 7 | Various locations
Photo: Pomegranate02
Kicking off this Sunday is Midsumma Festival, Melbourne’s annual queer celebration. An important part of Melbourne’s event calendar, Midsumma celebrates the LGBTIQ community by way of visual art, theatre, spoken word performance, cabaret, film, music, forums, parties and much more!
This Sunday, you can dance the day away at the Midsumma Carnival and T-Dance, party it up at the cheekily titled Jizz Rooftop After Party or visit the Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre to see what kind of queer-related activities they’ll be holding too.
Be sure to check out the rest of the program as well to see what else you can do to celebrate queer culture across the three-week festival.
To learn more about Midsumma Festival, visit the festival’s official website.