Festivals and Events
Melbourne is home to a range of international festivals, most notably the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, Melbourne International Air Show and the Melbourne International Animation Festival.
- The Royal Melbourne Show has been a Melbourne tradition since 1900.
- The Boxing Day Test has been a Melbourne cricket tradition since 1950.
- Myer Christmas Windows began in 1956 and were later followed by the Myer Christmas Parade.
- Moomba is an annual festival that began in 1955 and celebrates the Yarra River; the Birdman Rally is also a Melbourne tradition.
- Several Melbourne traditions have developed around Australian rules football, particularly the annual AFL Grand Final and the Grand Final Parade
- ANZAC Day parade that concludes at the Shrine of Remembrance and also the Anzac Day football event.
- Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival
- Melbourne Fringe Festival
- Midsumma
- Melbourne Queer Film Festival
- Melbourne International Film Festival
- Melbourne International Comedy Festival
- Melbourne International Singers Festival
- Melbourne Eisteddfod
- Melbourne Winter Masterpieces
- St Kilda Festival
- Melbourne Jazz Festival
- Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
- Melbourne Open House
- Brunswick Street Street Party/Northcote High St Street Party
- Big Day Out Music Festival
- Sydney Road Street Party/Brunswick Music Festival
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Several national traditions originated in Melbourne: The Melbourne Cup has been a Melbourne tradition since 1861 and then became a national tradition, subsequently referred to as "the race that stops the nation"; Carols by Candlelight, first held in 1938, is a Christmas Eve tradition; the Myer Christmas windows are a very popular annual attraction; and the AFL Grand Final attracts thousands of spectators, both live and via broadcast media, every year.
There are a number of cultural festivals that celebrate foreign cultures from within the context of the city's culture. Major festivals for Melbourne's large ethnic communities include:
- Greek Antipodes Festival
- Melbourne Italian Festival
- Asian Food Festival
- Australian Chinese New Year
- The Thai Culture and Food Festival, held in Federation Square, is one of the city's most successful festivals; as of 2012, it is in its ninth year.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Melbourne
Famous quotes containing the words festivals and/or events:
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)