Estimated crowds of between 450,000 and 500,000 visited Melbourne last night to experience the third White Night Melbourne. The City turned on a stunning night for the local and international visitors who navigated their way through 9 cultural precincts featuring more than 80 free events.
From the National Gallery in the south, along the banks of the Yarra River and Birrarung Marr, through the centre of the city to the new Melbourne Museum precinct in the north, artists from Australia, France, Portugal, Greece, Canada, UK, USA and Morocco captivated and delighted audiences from dusk til dawn.
“The third iteration of White Night Melbourne has been a success. We would like to thank all the artists, from Australia and around the world, who participated and the hundreds of thousands of visitors who marvelled at their works from dusk to dawn,” said Artistic Director Andrew Walsh.
Highlights from the night included the 4 Elements coming to life on the façade of the Royal Exhibition Building, the transformation of the Yarra River and Birrarung Marr into a Little India in Sita’s Garden, and the luminous plastic bodies dancing across the moat National Gallery of Victoria as part of KEYFRAMES.
Other highlights included the Wonderland projections on Flinders Street, flame sculpture The Crucible at Birrarung Marr, Sofles-Graffiti Mapped in the Mackenzie Street carpark and the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland at the State Library.
The music stages were once again a major hit with thousands of visitors enjoying all-night live music from Jazz @ the Forum to I Could Have Danced All Night and, Music for a World Stage on the Melbourne Museum forecourt to the Indie Music Stage in the Alexandra Gardens.
Organisers said one of the most pleasing aspects of this year’s event was how well received the changes to the event were – the new event precinct design accommodated half a million people comfortably, and helped ensure the crowd numbers were spread more evenly across the entire 12 hours.
For more information, visit: www.whitenightmelbourne.com.au for details.
Image: Projections on Flinders Street – photo by Phil Buchanan