Overview
During winter, it's easy to fall into a rut of the 'work, home, Netflix, sleep and repeat' kind. Luckily, Melbourne is chockers with venues and events that are doing their best to tempt you out of the house. So, we've teamed up with Melbourne ridesharing app DiDi to inspire you to do more with your winter nights. These five activities are worth braving the cold for and promise to warm you up once you get there. Plus, DiDi offers super competitive fares for getting you around the city, which means you'll have more cash to splash once you arrive.
Read on to discover an all-night arts festival, a European-style winter market, a new restaurant serving hearty bowls of pasta and all the cheese you can handle. Grab your mates, throw on a warm jacket and make a night (or weekend) of it.
White Night Melbourne
PARTY ALL-NIGHT AT WHITE NIGHT FESTIVAL
Every summer, Melburnians look forward to the all-night arts spectacular that is the White Night. Now, for the first time in its six-year run, the free festival is shining during winter instead. Taking place over three nights from Thursday, August 22–Saturday, August 24, the massive new winter program will span the Carlton Gardens, Birrarung Marr and the Treasury Gardens. Expect even more live music, street projections and after-dark gallery openings, plus heaps of design, film, food, performance and street art events. It'll keep you hopping around the city all weekend long and help you forget all about that chill in the air.
INDULGE YOUR WINTER APPETITE AT HIGH CHEESE
Cheese fiends Maker & Monger have once again teamed up with Westin Melbourne to bring you its version of high tea, which is filled with tiers upon tiers of cheese. Both sweet and savoury cheese dishes will be on offer daily until Saturday, August 31 — think gouda scones, roquefort with Four Pillars marmalade and cheesy tiramisu with salted white chocolate. You'll also get to try ricotta-filled cannoli, gruyère-stuffed gougères and even an entire baked Normandy camembert. It'll cost you $70 all up, with unlimited coffee and tea also included (wine will cost you extra). To reserve your spot, head to the website.
GO ICE SKATING AT THE WINTER VILLAGE
You don't need to take a trip abroad to indulge in some European-vibes this winter. Melbourne's Federation Square has been transformed into The Winter Village — a European-style market that boasts an ice rink, private igloos for hire and fried cheese aplenty. Expect local DJs to keep you entertained while you sip espresso martinis from the tap.
If you're keen to see some snow, head to the oversized igloo dining hall where it 'snows' inside every hour. The pop-up has been extended until the end of September, too — so you have plenty of time to take advantage of it.
EAT YOUR WAY AROUND THE WORLD AT QUEEN VICTORIA WINTER NIGHT MARKET
If variety is your thing, Queen Victoria Market is where you should head on Wednesday nights during winter. Each week, the Winter Night Market offers a lineup of 30 food stalls serving up cuisine from around the world — there's pasta tossed in a wheel of parmesan, Italian loaded flatbreads and churro bowls topped with vanilla ice cream and hazelnut sauce and much more.
Apart from the food, you can stay warm by sipping mulled wine and steaming hot cider, then dance along to live music, roving entertainment or at the silent disco. Over 50 maker stalls are also on the docket. And, in July, the market will take on a Christmas theme each week, with snow machines, decorations and the requisite ugly sweaters. Entry is free each and every week, too.
Peter Dillon
TUCK INTO HEARTY BOWLS OF PASTA AT LUPO
There's nothing better on a cold night than a steaming bowl of hearty pasta. This winter, highly lauded chef Scott Pickett (Saint Crispin, Estelle, Pickett's Deli, Matilda) is bringing you just that. He's recently transformed his 60-seat Smith Street digs into a classic Italian diner. Lupo offers up the likes of spanner crab lasagne, squid ink linguine and black truffle risotto.
The extensive wine list will warm you up, too, with over 120 wines to choose from. And the barrel-aged negroni is the perfect pre- or post-dinner pick-me-up. If spending the night at one of Collingwood's hottest new restaurants doesn't entice you out of the house this winter, we don't know what will.
Switch to DiDi and save heaps of cash that you'd rather spend on the fun stuff — like indulgent wintry adventures. To start riding, download the app here and use the code CONCRETE to score up to $50 in vouchers.
Image: Queen Victoria Winter Night Market.