BMKS+Act+V,+Scene+I



====Ever year Melbourne is blessed with some of the most amazing musical events in the world. Some of these include Carols by Candlelight, Moomba Festival, Big Day Out, St. Kilda Festival and many more. So let's find out what some of these festivals are about. ====

=﻿Events and Festivals=

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====The best known family event of the year has to be Vision Australia's Carols by Candlelight, held in the fabulous Sidney Myer Music Bowl every Christmas eve. Each year on average around just over 10,000 people turn up to watch the performance and the rehearsal night brings around 7,500 people paying a much smaller price to see the multiple events practice in preparation for the big night ahead. Carols by Candlelight raises money for children with low or no vision, and helps them to have the right support and medical attention they need. ====

Moomba Festival
====Another annual event is the Moomba Festival. The Moomba Festival is an Aboriginal festival held every Labor Day long weekend in March. ====

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====Held along the banks of the Yarra River, Moomba is celebrating it's 56th year in 2011. The events held include parades, rallys, waterskiing events, fireworks displays and many more. ==== ====Moomba is a huge cultural attraction and each year attracts thousands of people to the city each year to watch the display. The official translation for Moomba is: "Let's get together and have fun", which is truely shown in the presentation of this festival each year. ====

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====The Big Day Out is an annual music and entertainment festival. In the beginning, 1992, the Big Day Out was only held in Sydney, but demand grew and festivals begun in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne in 1993. In 1994 the Gold Coast and Auckland began to hold them annually. ==== ====Acts have included that of Silverchair, Wolfmother, The Living End, Kisschasy, You am I, Powderfinger and many more. The event has attracted thousands for years and shows no sign of slowing down. The event is for people above 15 years of age and above, and is commonly known to be very much for teens. This event is a great way to show off some great Australian music. ====

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====The St. Kilda Festival is an annual cultural event held in Melbourne. This festival showcases some great Australian music and activites, and also gives young artists a chance to start their careers. Another wonderful feature of Melbourne is Acland Street. ==== ====Acland Street is a famous precinct in Melbourne known for its stunning cake, coffee and ice-cream shops, and is argueably one of the most beautiful streets of Melbourne. Tourists file into the cramped streets each time the festival comes around, and tourists are not the only ones to make the most of the wonderful environment... Buskers come out to shine on and around Acland Street each year, especially while the St. Kilda Festival is going on. This event attracts thousands and breathes life into St. Kilda, each and every summer. ==== =﻿Theatres= ====The main theatres in Melbourne are stunning examples of the architecture that was all over our city years ago. The Princess, Comedy, Regent, Forum and Plaza Ballroom theatres are all owned by Marriners Theatres. Marriners are owned by a family, and has been in the same family for over twenty years. The Marriners Theatres are the stages to most of the major productions of Melbourne. See our Upcoming Events page to see upcoming events at these theatres. ====

The Princess Theatre
====The Princess Theatre is located at 163 Spring Street in the CBD. Here the City of Melbourne holds many, many events showcasing acts from around the world. Built in 1854 and opened under the name of the Astley's Ampitheatre, The Princess Theatre is a stunning example of the attention to detail that was present in the architecture of the buildings involved in creating Melbourne. From the elaborately decorated crowns of the top of each roof to the glass on the doors, everything in this theatre was made to impress even the fussiest of guests, and was built to last. Even now, 135 years later, the theatre attracts hundreds each night. But all did not go how it was meant to. In 1854 the opening of the Astley's Ampitheatre was highly anticipated. Thousands queued up to watch the opening night and it's productions, but after opening night numbers dropped dramatically and even after joining <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> up with another theatre group, they decided to auction Astley's Ampitheatre. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">After the auction of Astley's, it was re-designed and re-opened as The Royal Ampitheatre. Despite a highly anticipated opening night, yet again numbers dropped and The Royal Ampitheatre was sold. The theatre was yet again bought and re-opened as The Princess Theatre and Opera House. Even though they postponed the opening night many times, the renovations were not complete in time. The theatre was closed and re-opened many, many times but in the end was opened successfully for the last time in 1989 featuring shows such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserables", and the theatre has been doing very well since. The Princess Theatre is now showing the internationally acclaimed musical "Hairspray". ====

The Regent Theatre
====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Another theatre of Melbourne is the Regent Theatre. The Regent is one of the oldest most picturesque theatres in Melbourne. Located at 191 Collins Street, stands the 71 year old theatre. With amazing architecture and a huge seating capacity, the Regent was made to impress. The majority of events held at the Regent are of dramatic influence. The opening of the Regent Theatre was highly anticipated and was nothing short of amazing, but unfortunately, the story of the Regent is not all glitz and glamour. The opening, held on the 15th of March 1929, was attended by thousands and the night was nothing short of extravagant. The theatre ran long and strong, pleasing hundreds consistently each and every performance night. The elaborately decorated interior made the theatre desirable to tourists. The walls and theatres were painted with gold to signify the wealth of Melbourne, and to basically show off the foreigners. All was going amazingly, and everyone thought the Regent Theatre unstoppable, until the night of April the 22nd 1945. A prop fire started at the back of one of the stages and ended up setting the whole theatre on fire. The theatre had no choice but to close down. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The re-building of the Regent took two years. In this two year space, the main theatre was to be re-built and the foyer was so badly burned that the whole space was knocked down and started again. The second opening night was held on the night of the 19th of December 1947. A special preview of the nights events was held for all who helped out. The second opening night was almost as successful as the first. Almost two thousand people flocked the streets and huge bands played to everyone. Even now 60 years later the Regent shines in the theatrical scene of Melbourne. ====

The Comedy Theatre
====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Another dominant theatre in Melbourne has to be the Comedy Theatre. The Comedy Theatre opened in 1928, on the 28th of April. The theatre was the first in the country to have a dress and upper dress circle in their performing areas. The theatre was privately owned until 1996, when it was bought by David Marriner, the owner of Marriner Theatres, and was the fourth theatre belonging to the company. The Comedy Theatre sits in the same class as the Regent, Princess and Forum Theatres. ====

The Forum Theatre
====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The Forum is the fourth in the line of Marriner theatres. The land where the theatre now sits was sold to a man by the name of William Rutledge for 156 pounds in 1837. By 1848 the land was owned by a working man, who built<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> a four roomed timber house there. When the land came into the property of Stuart Doyle in 1900 the land was cleared to make room for a new State Theatre for Melbourne, which was also designed and built by Mr. Doyle. In a trip to America, Doyle met John Eberson, who was responsible for the creation of many American theatres. Mr. Eberson was very impressed with the work done by Stuart Doyle, and commissioned him to make what are now known as the The Capitol in Sydney, The State Theatre in Melbourne and The Ambassador in Perth. The State Theatre, designed by Doyle, was built at the same time as the Regent Theatre. In fact, the State and Regent Theatres were originally made to be completed during the same month, but the State Theatre was completed ahead of time by several weeks. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The Forum Theatre is another building in the CBD that has 24 carat gold painted in some parts of the interior. The elaborately designed decor shows the true wealth of the city of Melbourne. Years after it's opening the Forum theatre is a truely stunning place to visit in our CBD. It is a must-see for all tourists. ====

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