Shop The City

Overview

Saying farewell to the final rays of summer can be dispiriting. But winter isn't all misery, it's also prime time for campfires, hot mugs of Milo, oversized knits and gooey, toasted marshmallows — which this event will recognise with its inaugural National Marshmallow Day celebration.

To help pull you out of your seasonal slump, a whole bunch of Melbourne CBD retail giants are teaming up for Shop The City, a 12-hour shopping extravaganza held on the food celebration day you never knew you needed. After all, there's no better way to beat the winter blues than with some marshmallowy sugar and retail therapy.

As well as a heap of sales, the event will see a host of free bars, food pop-ups and interactive experiences across the CBD. At QV Melbourne, shoppers will find a cosy winter village where they can build their own s'mores and take a VR paragliding adventure over the Swiss Alps.

Over at Melbourne Central, you can keep the sweet tooth satisfied with a marshmallow fondue bar honouring Pantone's Colour of the Year, Ultra Violet (or, PANTONE 18-3838). Here, you'll be able to dunk violet marshmallows into a purple-chocolate fountain and top them with edible purple glitter.

All those sweets need to be balanced out with some fluids, so head to the 'Alice in Wonderland'-themed bar on the ground floor of Emporium Melbourne. Created in collaboration with ACMI's latest exhibition, the bar will serve up Paint The Roses Red (a gin cocktail infused with choc-berry tea) cocktails in 'potion' bottles.

Finish the 12-hour marathon with a free hand-dipped 'Wagon Wheel' from 5pm at The Strand (in honour of National Marshmallow Day, of course), then dance the night away with Melbourne electro-soul singer Tanya George outside Melbourne's GPO from 5–9pm.

Shop The City will run from 10am–10pm on Friday, May 18. For the full list of events and participating venues, head to the website.