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Grandstand view, Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup

Melbourne's premier turf event is not just any old horse race. The annual Melbourne Cup has been variously billed as 'the celebration that stops a nation', and 'Australia's most famous Tuesday'. The race is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, and draws interest from elsewhere in the world besides Australia. The race was first run in 1861 and carries a proud tradition. It is the highlight of the four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Venue: Flemington Racecourse
Date: 4 November 2008
Time: 3pm
Website: www.melbournecup.com.au

Melbourne's Big Day Out

Melbourne's Big Day Out

The famous Aussie touring label crashes into Melbourne's Princes Park South for a festive day in the sunshine every year. Some of the biggest names in popular world music entertain the crowds with the latest tracks from the commercial and alternative music scenes.

Venue: Princes Park South
Date: 26 January 2009
Time: 11am
Website: www.bigdayout.com

Chinese New Year Parade © australianchinesenewyear.com.au

Chinese New Year Festival

With over 10,000 residents in Melbourne speaking a Chinese language at home, it is no wonder that the annual Chinese New Year Festival attracts thousands of exhilarated festivalgoers, who come to celebrate the dawn of a new year. With colourful floats, dancing and singing from Chinese Opera to karaoke, the Chinese New Year Festival offers an eclectic mix of Chinese culture. With attractions for young and old, visitors can enjoy stage performances, numerous culinary stalls, calligraphy demonstrations and lion dances, all culminating in an anticipated countdown to the New Year. Afterwards, festivities continue and by touching the traditional dragon, which is paraded down the streets of Chinatown, new fortunes and prosperity can be evoked.

Venue: Various
Date: 26 January 2009
Time: 10am to 10pm
Website: www.australianchinesenewyear.com.au

Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open

Australian Open Tennis Championships

What started out as the Australasian Championships in 1905 has become what is known today as the Australian Open. It has been staged at six different venues: New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Since 1972, the tournament has been held every year at Melbourne Park. The Australian Open is one of the four tennis championships that make up the 'Grand Slam,' and a coveted prize for the top professionals.

Venue: Melbourne Park
Date: 19 January to 1 February 2009
Website: www.australianopen.com

Laneway Festival Melbourne © Warwick Baker

St Jerome's Laneway Festival

A unique rock festival with a twist that is taking the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide by storm, the St Jerome's Laneway Festival brings music and culture lovers together for one unforgettable day, to get up close and personal in one of the many lanes and alleyways that intersect Melbourne's city centre. Quoted as one of the Australia's most insurgent and unique pop music events ever, the annual Laneway Festival hosts over 30 different cutting edge Australian bands in four different locations, all performing at the same time. Tickets sell like hotcakes so start booking in November.

Venue: Various laneways
Date: February 2009
Time: Noon onwards
Website: www.lanewayfestival.com.au

Moomba Waterfest © flickr: marlonius

Moomba Waterfest

Melbourne's biggest and brightest annual event, with a hearty tradition of free family fun, pays tribute to the important role water plays in citizen's lives. Each year the programme for the four-day fair grows bigger and better, with activities like open-air movie shows, giant sand sculptures, waterski and wakeboard championships, Dragon Boat races, the crazy 'Birdman Rally' and a spectacular fireworks display, to name but a few. Highlights are the Moomba Parade and the Waterfest Carnival. Contact the Melbourne Moomba Waterfest at waterfest@melbourne.vic.gov.au for more information.

Venue: Swanston Street, Melbourne CBD
Date: 6-9 March 2009
Time: Moomba Parade: 11am to 12pm
Website: www.moombawaterfest.com.au

Australian F1 Grand Prix

Motorsport fans have a real treat when it comes time for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at the superb modern Albert Park Lake circuit. The main race is the first on the annual Formula One schedule, and forms the centrepiece of four days of events from karting through all racing categories and off-track entertainment.

Venue: Albert Park Lake, near St Kilda
Date: 27 - 29 March 2009
Website: www.grandprix.com.au

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Visitors come to Melbourne from all over the world for a good laugh during the city's International Comedy Festival, when the downtown precincts turn into a melee of mirth provided by comic artists in a feast of funny stand-up, theatre, cabaret, street entertainment, art exhibitions, film and music. This is the only event of its kind in Australia, and one of the largest (and funniest) in the world, reflecting the city's well-known comedy culture. For more information, email info@comedyfestival.com.au or call (0)3 9417 7711.

Venue: The Town Hall precinct, Victoria Hotel, Hi Fi Ballroom, Capitol Theatre, The Forum, Duckboard House and peripheral pubs, clubs and theatres
Date: 1-26 April 2009
Website: www.comedyfestival.com.au

Melbourne International Arts Festival

Melbourne's International Arts Festival is recognised as a leader of its kind in the country, presenting unique national and international experiences of dance, theatre, music, opera, and visual arts, most of it free and offered outdoors during October each year.

Venue: Various
Date: 8 - 24 October 2009
Website: www.melbournefestival.com.au