SANTA is making his list and checking it twice, presents are being wrapped, the windows on advent calendars are being peeled back, and carols are echoing through shopping centres.
Christmas is on its way and those lucky enough to be in Melbourne during the 2017 Silly Season have a swag of options available to get in the yule mood.
Federation Square
Federation Square, the social heart of Melbourne, is a Christmas wonderland in December 2017 offering “festive fun for the whole family”.
The jolly bloke in red is occupying a plot beneath the Christmas tree, a light show sparkles at 9pm every night, and a 6m bauble sitting at the centre of the plaza provides the perfect place for a pre-25th portrait.
State Library of Victoria
The State Library of Victoria lights up in December with the beautiful building serving as a canvas for “a bright and swirling projection show that tells the story of the North Pole’s preparation for the big day” with the show launching every night at 9pm.
Myer Christmas windows
The Myer Christmas Windows, which stretch along the department store’s Bourke Street facade, is a Melbourne institution with this year’s story celebrating HC Floren’s The Completely and Utterly Perfect Christmas.
Those in the know recommend arriving early to avoid the queues, Santa is in residence upstairs and ready to talk to the little tackers, and Myer’s Giftorium on the sixth floor offers inspiration for those on the hunt for last-minute presents.
Christmas laneways
Degraves Street, Alfred Place, Howie Place, Meyers Place and Manchester Lane are just some of Melbourne’s most iconic laneways and in 2017 these inner-city alleys will wear boughs of holly, fairy lights, baubles and a reindeer two making the spaces infinitely instagrammable.
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is once again the place to see The Gingerbread Village by EPICURE with pastry chef Deniz Karaca and his team creating the miniature settlement to raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital.
This year they will create the F1 Grand Prix circuit and add to the existing village that’s made up of 500kg of gingerbread, 360kg of royal icing, and 150kg of marzipan.
Skate with Santa
Those keen to embrace a northern hemisphere Christmas tradition can take to the ice alongside Santa at O’Brien Group Arena, with skating scheduled every Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm during December.
Queen Victoria Market
More than 250,000 people are expected to pass through Melbourne’s famous Queen Victoria Market in the days before Christmas and chortling carollers, a strolling Santa, and cooking demonstrations by chef Lynton Tapp adding to the festive season fun.
South Melbourne Market
It isn’t an Australian Christmas without platters of seafood and the South Melbourne Market is the place to go for prawns, crayfish, crabs and oysters this festive season with extended trading hours scheduled from 20 December.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Toes will be tapping as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform favourite festive orchestral works, like as The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, at the Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall which has received a refresh making it “one of the world’s great music halls”.
Carols by Candlelight
Chrismas Eve just would be complete without Carols by Candlelight – the annual musical celebration, now in its 80th year, that donates 100 per cent of profits to Vision Australia – with the audience joining in the chorus while enjoying all the favourite carols performed by artists like Marina Prior, Denis Walter and Silvie Paladino.
Book a reserved seat up front, or pack a picnic to enjoy the show from a grassy patch in the amphitheatre, but remember to take a candle or two to add sparkle to the might.
Visit Melbourne’s Christmas in the City website
Far Near Or Here 