Melbourne’s White Night Program Is Here

White Night Melbourne is back in 2015.

The event is a music, visual arts, illuminations, food, theatre, film, design and performance free-for-all that transforms the city’s public spaces, laneways, parklands and institutions into canvases for one night only. Melbourne’s city centre will be handed over to artists from 7pm on Saturday February 21 until 7am on Sunday February 22, providing an all-night landscape metamorphosis and a certified Instagram frenzy.

With two successful years under their belt, White Night’s 2015 program was announced this morning featuring nine key precincts with highlights including:

• Sticky Institute‘s 12-hour zine reading and making marathon.
• Sita’s Garden, transforming Birrarung Marr and the Yarra into a bustling Indian street scene, complete with mesmerising water installations, music, performances and food.
• Key Frames, luminous plastic bodies performing and glowing along the façade of the National Gallery of Victoria, while the garden within is also transformed with light.
• The Engine, which transforms Alexandra Gardens into an indie music festival featuring 12 acts, plus illuminated neon angel wings and a series of three Greek short films chronicling the contemporary crisis in the country.
• Wonderland, the ever popular projections along the row of Flinders Street building, with all night Jazz performances inside The Forum

Plus plenty more. Find all details about the White Night 2015 Program here.

The unique event that illuminates the cityscape was inspired by the international phenomenon “Nuit Blanche” (White Night) which originated in Nantes, France on one night in 1990 that saw every art gallery, museum and bookshop stay open all night with the whole city becoming a large carnival venue. Similar annual events have taken place in St Petersburg, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, Rome and plenty more. The event will also light up Santiago in 2015 for the first time.

Be prepared for large crowd numbers and plan your transport ahead of time. Over half a million people showed up to the 2014 event, and 300,000 showed up for the inaugural 2013 event.

(Lead image: Chris Phutully/Flickr)

This one is worth travelling for. Book your flight to Melbourne now with Qantas.