The Ten Best Things to Do in Melbourne's CBD This Month

From circus and dance to mind-popping installations and everything in-between, this year’s festival consists of more than 450 events, brought to life by literally thousands of passionate artists. Inspired by the theme ‘step into the light’, this year’s program is bookended by a pair of significant works from acclaimed audio-visual artist Robin Fox.

But that’s just the tip of a very impressive iceberg. As one of the biggest and most eclectic events on the city’s cultural calendar, the Fringe lineup caters to every conceivable taste. There’ll be eye-popping cabaret shows from the likes of James Welsby and Yana Alana, alongside a music lineup that covers everything from jazz to orchestral to disco, comedy and the Fringe Furniture exhibition.  And, of course, you’ll want to spend plenty of time at the Festival Club in North Melbourne, where you can mingle with like-minded patrons and catch a different show every night.

Check out our top ten picks of the festival program. 

A new exhibition will shine a light on the one and only Kylie Minogue. On display at the Arts Centre from late September until the end of January, Kylie on Stage will celebrate the popstar’s illustrious career as a singer and performer, featuring costumes from more than a quarter-century of spectacular shows.

The free exhibition will include frocks from as early as 1989’s Disco in Dreams tour, and spans all the way up to last year’s Kylie Kiss Me Once. The list of designers and fashion houses that’ve teamed-up with Kylie over the years includes Mark Burnett, John Galliano, Dolce & Gabbana and John Paul Gaultier — all of whose work you had better believe will make an appearance in the exhibition.

In addition to the clothes themselves, the exhibition will feature designs, sketches, work drawings and photographs, as well as behind the scenes footage that charts the development of each costume.

Prepare to say ciao to Italian cinema because the annual showcase of films from or about the European nation is back for another round. In fact, it’s the Lavazza Italian Film Festival‘s 17th year — and if the program is anything to go by, it’s going to be another good one.

Not only will the 2016 fest kick off with Italian box office hit Perfect Strangers and close with the digital restoration of the Audrey Hepburn-starring classic Roman Holiday, but it also boasts a world premiere. Local audiences will be the first on the planet to see the first-ever Australian-Italian feature co-production, The Space Between. Charting the intersection of an Italian ex-chef and a spirited Aussie in the scenic Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, it has been described as “a celebration of the Italian spirit of la dolce vita”.

Elsewhere, the 30-film program keeps highlighting the best Italian filmmaking has to offer, such as Where Am I Going?, the highest-grossing film in Italian cinema history. Strands dedicated to relationships and leading ladies serve up plenty of both, including straight-from Cannes prison drama Fiore and straight-from-Venice romanceThe Worldly Girl (and yes, we mean straight from this year’s Venice Film Festival in September).

Plus, with coming-of-age tale Arianna, Gran Turismo racing thriller Italian Race and gritty character study Napoli Junglealso on the bill, IFF does what all good fests should by offering something for everyone. Don’t say you don’t have something to watch for the next couple of months as the festival tours the country.

Inspired by the theme of ‘step into the light’, the major commission of this year’s Melbourne Fringe is a breathtaking city-wide laser installation from audio-visual artist Robin Fox. Invisible from some angles and impossible to miss from others, powerful beams of light will connect iconic buildings across the Yarra, while an electronic soundscape captures the ephemeral beauty of the city after dark. Start your journey at Princes Bridge on St Kilda Road and then see where the light takes you along the river.

One of Australia’s most celebrated artists is the subject of a brand new exhibition on its way to Melbourne this September. Co-presented by NGV Australia along with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, John Olsen: The You Beaut Country celebrates the incredible work of the eponymous painter, who for more than 50 years has captured the breathtaking Australian landscape in a way that few other artists ever have.

On display at NGV Australia from September 16 until February 12, the exhibition is focused primarily on Olsen’s output from the 1960s, after the artist spent three years travelling around Europe. Alongside these works visitors will find a number of more recent pieces, including paintings, prints and watercolours.

As always, the exhibition will be complemented by a number of gallery events, including a public conversation with the artist hosted by ABC Radio National’s Phillip Adams, and a series of ceramic workshops that draw on Olsen’s art for inspiration.

Image: Hugh Stewart. 

Melbourne has no shortage of design markets (or good designers, to that end) so we were about due for another one to take place. Held three times a year, the Little Sparrow Market is back for its second and third 2016 instalments after a kicking things off back in June.

The market will fill The Atrium at Federation Square with all manner of aesthetically pleasing things, from candles to couture sleepwear to cute homewares. Altogether there’ll be over 65 stalls, including some of the gourmet food kind — because no market-goer should have to go hungry. The first market will be held on Sunday, September 25, with the following one happening a month later on Sunday, October 23.

Louis Theroux and Scientology. One of them holds thousands of people in thrall, telling strange stories about aliens, reincarnated spirits and nuclear holocaust. The other is a religion created by a science fiction writer.

My Scientology Movie, Louis Theroux’s first foray into cinema, has finally hit Australian shores. And while it’s bound to be laden with weirdness, the strangest part is how long it’s taken the BBC’s resident oddball to tangle with as — let’s say, interesting — an organisation as the Church of Scientology.

Scientologists are notoriously secretive and trailers for the film suggest this is one of the few times Theroux’s stilted innocence has been unable to get him through the door. Refusing to acknowledge defeat, Theroux makes his way down the spiral of eccentricity in an attempt to crack open what he refers to as a ‘Hollywood religion.’

The film will screen at ACMI from September 8-14 — so if you want to see it early you’ll likely have to force your way through the hordes of Scorsese fans still camped out there. Overseas reviews of My Scientology Movie suggest it’ll be worth it though; a little Taxi Driver cosplay and you should be just fine.

Four teenage boys divulge their relationships with pornography in a long overdue conversation at Malthouse Theatre. Conceived and created by St. Martins Youth Arts Centre director Clare Watson based on candid interviews with boys aged 12 to 18, Gonzo divulges in frank, uncensored terms just how ubiquitous X-rated content has become, while also exploring the shame and moral panic that seems to go along with it.

On stage from September 21 until October 1, Gonzo will see actors Ari Maza Long, Sam Nugent, Jack Palit and Sol Rumble perform the words of Watson’s anonymous teenage subjects, revealing the effects their consumption of ‘adults only’ material has had on their lives. “Gonzo aims to promote inter generational conversation and demonstrate that the children have the capacity, literacy and eloquence to lead this conversation,” says Watson. “We just need to be prepared to listen.”

The new Australian Islamic Centre in Newport is now open — and it’s unlike no other mosque in Melbourne. Designed by award-winning architect Glenn Murcutt, who has spent close to a decade on the project, the modern centre embraces contemporary design in an attempt to create a community centre capable of fostering intercultural conversation and cooperation.

To that end, NGV Australia’s new exhibition, Glenn Murcutt: Architecture of Faith, lets visitors go behind the scenes of Murcutt’s design process, and gain unique insight into his unconventional use of material, geometry and colour.

When Robert De Niro asked his reflection who it was talking to, Joe Pesci questioned whether he was funny, and Leonardo DiCaprio crawled along the ground under the influence of Quaaludes, one man was responsible. Over a career spanning almost six decades, Martin Scorsese has brought tales of taxi drivers, goodfellas and wolf-like stockbrokers to the screen — and now an exhibition dedicated to his work has come to Melbourne.

Until September 18 (you’ve still got a bit of time!), ACMI will pay tribute to one of America’s most iconic directors, exploring everything from his early experimental beginnings to the award-winning films that have shaped many a movie buff. If you’re already a fan, you’ll be in Scorsese heaven. If you’ve somehow resisted the charms of (or completely missed) the likes of Raging Bull, The Departed and Hugo — or his concert flicks such as The Last Waltz and Shine a Light, or even Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl on TV — then prepare to have your eyes opened.

In its only Australian stop after wowing Berlin, Ghent, Turin and Paris, SCORSESE will present a collection of more than 600 objects spanning the filmmaker’s entire cinema resume, as curated by the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin’s Museum of Film and Television. Expect storyboards, hand-annotated film scripts, unpublished production stills, costumes, film clips and more, all drawn from the private collections of De Niro, Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader, and Scorsese himself.

Top image: Fabian Mardi. 

Make the most of these CBD adventures by taking a staycation at Melbourne’s newest city hotel, QT Melbourne. Inspired by the city itself and the 1920s ‘Paris end’ rag traders, QT Melbourne houses three brand new venues: Pascale Bar & Grill, The Cake Shop, and the soon to be open Hot Sauce Laneway Bar. Find out more here.