Your Ultimate Easter Long Weekend Itinerary

Celebrate the start of the four-day weekend by travelling back to the ’90s. On Good Friday Eve, Ding Dong Lounge will ride a wave of nostalgia until the wee hours of dawn, with live DJs, dancing and lots of terrible, terrible music you’ve retroactively convinced yourself is great. Expect Aqua, Nirvana and maybe a little Vanilla Ice.

This Easter weekend marks the end of an era for one of Melbourne’s most beloved institutions. After 75 years of constant operation, the iconic Astor Theatre will finally close its doors. And true to form, they’re going out in style.

If chocolate bunnies and hot cross buns just won’t cut it for you, we’ve found a sweet alternative this Easter season. The team from Doughboys Doughnuts knows when it comes to delicious hol(e)y pastry, the more extravagant the topping the better. Famous for their devilish hand-dipped creations, Doughboys are stopping by the Mercat Cross Hotel in the Queen Vic Markets to dish up their best sellers.

Admittedly, raw chocolate is not the first thing most people reach for when they’re looking for an Easter treat. But Pana Barbounis, founder and chocolate maker at Pana Chocolate is trying to change that — and he’s doing a pretty darn good job. Available Australia-wide and in some international countries, Pana is taking his love of slow-cooked, raw foods and health-conscious sweet treats to the masses.

Your long weekend wander down Chapel Street just got artier. Since 2010, the City of Stonnington has livened up their streets with ART-Town, two weekends a year where the south side is packed to the brim with live art. Over 130 artists will set up their stations to create pieces from the artistic domains of stencil art, murals, installations, photography, multimedia, digital, graphic art, illustration and painting.

Once the realms of Dahl-created Wonkahood, entire rooms dedicated to drinking chocolate are now a reality in our humble non-fiction lives. Melbourne-based drinking chocolate producer Mörk Chocolate have opened the doors on their new store — an entire liquid chocolate brew house, just in time for autumn. And they’re doing ‘Hot Cross Chocolates’ all weekend.

The Queen Victoria Market is adding a touch of je ne sais quoi with their French-themed vintage marketplace, the QVM Brocante Marche. Crepes, croissants and coffee will all be in plentiful supply, although the more decadent among you may prefer a pot of Nutella fondue. The April market will even include an Easter egg hunt — although much to our disappointment it’s meant to be strictly for kids.

After six years, the brains behind I Oh You are still going strong; from wild parties across Australia, international touring and representing some of Australia’s finest musicians on their indie label, I Oh You Records. Clearly there’s plenty to celebrate, so the former housemates are getting back together this Easter weekend to put on an incredible night of music. Think Collarbones, The Harpoons and Milwaukee Banks and more.

Fast cars, pulse-pounding action and plot holes bigger than the veins in Dwayne Johnson’s biceps: the seventh entry in the Fast and/or Furious franchise delivers everything fans have come to expect. And yes, to be clear, we mean that as a compliment.