music and art and chaos.

Melbourne is known for its festivals and culture, and we've been fortunate to experience a lot of what the city has to offer. This past weekend, Ben and I had the opportunity to attend some awesome (and free!) events: an outdoor symphony concert, and an all-night arts festival!

The Sidney Myer Free Concerts are a beloved summer tradition here, featuring the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performing at the outdoor Sidney Myer Music Bowl. These two-hour events are open to the general public, and people are encouraged to bring blankets and picnic dinners while enjoying well thought-out classical programs. Last night was the third and final concert of the series, which was of particular interest to me because it featured a piano concerto. Classical piano was once my specialty a loooong time ago, and even though my personal experiences of performing concertos with a full orchestra were somewhat terrifying, I really love piano concertos - when someone else is playing them.

Ben and I arrived at the bowl two hours early, just in time for the preconcert entertainment featuring the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra, performing works by various Russian composers. By the time the main concert started at 7pm, the bowl had reached full capacity at 10,000 people.

one GIANT music picnic.

The evening's program consisted of Piano Concerto No. 3 by Rachmaninov (made popular by the 90's film "Shine") featuring pianist Caroline Almonte, and Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique" by Tchaikovsky. Both pieces were fantastic, and it was a beautiful experience to enjoy the orchestra as the sun slowly set over the city. Afterwards, we ran into our friend Anne and her boyfriend, who had also attended the concert, and got to catch up with them for a bit.

The next adventure on our list was White Night, which is a relatively new event (last year was its original debut, enjoyed by over 300,000 people). Inspired by Paris' Nuit Blanche, Melbourne's White Night is an intense all-night arts festival. From 7pm to 7am, the core of the CBD was transformed into a "cultural playground," featuring art exhibitions, colourful light displays, performance, street food and other social activities. By the time we made our way to the main cross streets at 10:30pm, it was absolute chaos. Moving from one end of the road to the other was an accomplishment, and even though it's an experience in itself to be surrounded by a sea of humans, we found it hard to do anything but avoid getting trampled.

I convinced Ben that we'd be better off heading home and taking a little nap, then venturing out again in the wee hours in the morning, when the crowd would hopefully have thinned out. So we did, setting our alarm for 3:30am and revisiting the city at 4am. We were super tired, and of course there were a bunch of belligerent intoxicated people out and about - but there was a strong presence of law enforcement at the festival, so I never felt unsafe during our time there.

As I had hoped, the art displays were much easier to enjoy without the massive crowd, although the festival was still going strong. We saw various music and theatric performances, including a rousing jazz band, and a puppeteer who did a fantastic job making a tiny skeleton marionette lip-sync to Ray Charles. The Alexandra Gardens showcased a series of films shown on large projectors, surrounded by modern art sculptures and trees illuminated by colourful lights. All the major buildings were lit up with intricate and changing designs, and the iconic "White Night" sign on the Princes Bridge was an ongoing art project in itself, with people being encouraged to decorate the glowing letters with artwork and messages. Flinders Square was packed with people gathered in front of the main stage for an all-night dance party. A bunch of restaurants and even some museums were open all night long, and food trucks lined the side streets for people craving a snack on the go. There was even an excited crowd observing a large and rousing game of duck-duck-goose in the middle of the street.

4am jazz concert, anyone? 

all-night dance party stage, going strong at 5am

potatoes on a stick are apparently our thing. also, Ben is thrilled to be wandering the city streets at 4am.

Flinder's Street Station

this is actually a picture of the sign in reverse, flipped in post-production.

Apparently 550,000 people attended White Night this year - around 100,000 over the general estimate. There were various complaints on social media about the lack of crowd control and overall organisation, so there's definitely room to improve for next year's festival. But we had a great time despite the chaos, and I've already marked it on my calendar for 2015. I highly recommend attending White Night in the early hours of the morning, especially if you're not a big fan of swimming through crowds.

Anyway, this might be Ben's last weekend in Melbourne for a little while, as he will be working out of town for the next few months. We're not too excited about this, but it is what it is. Hopefully he'll be able to come home every few weeks - and depending on the status of my employment, I might be able to visit him and see a bit more of Victoria. After all, we're always up for more adventure!

CK