Being Human Festival

Overview

Melbourne's always busy events calendar has a new addition, thanks to the Being Human Festival. Arriving in the country for the first time, this Australian offshoot of the UK humanities fest is all about exploring the way that the discipline can help us better understand ourselves and our world. This year, everything on both the overseas and local program ties into the theme of 'origins and endings'.

In Melbourne between Thursday, November 15 and Saturday, November 24, that means a number of highlights that examine both the city's and the country's identities through a variety of areas. Fancy singing your way through the history of early Aussie settlement, including ballads from Britain and Ireland, as well as songs about being transported to Botany Bay and Van Diemen's Land? Or maybe you'd like to take a walking tour of the University of Melbourne's Parkville campus and discover its stories.

You can also don a toga and enter a classics quiz, and eat a $15 three-course meal where each dish is based on the cultural heritage of the night's speakers.

A word of warning — everything except the dinner is free, and spots are getting snapped up fast, so you might need to join a waiting list for some of them.