Around North Melbourne

Music and performance

The inner city Melbourne suburb of North Melbourne has a variety of arts and cultural activities happening on an ongoing basis.

Its main thoroughfare is Errol Street, which is home to Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, which, as the name suggests, was originally a town hall but is now a thriving performing arts space. It presents works by local and international artists and hosts aspects of great Melbourne events such as the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Liquid Architecture, which celebrates the diverse methods of sound making and sound theory, the Melbourne International Arts Festival and the annual North Melbourne and West Melbourne community celebration, the Spring Fling Festival, along with performances by groups such as circus company Circa, dance company Chunky Move, and Club Wild which supports the creativity of people with disabilities.

Nearby, in Blackwood Street and just a block from any of the Flemington Road trams, is Arts House, Meat Market, with a creative development space, two galleries, a conference centre, rehearsal rooms and office spaces.

The Australian Centre of Performing Arts (ACOPA) in Raglan Street is a contemporary arts space providing artists with spaces on any one of four levels. ACOPA has supported many student theatre productions and the ACOPA End of Year Showcase, and offers training and workshops in acting, improvisation, movement, voice, musical theatre, production and performance art. Call in for a drink at the bar on the ground level or see a performance at Café Voltaire on the first floor.

Home-made goulash, traditional strudel and imported Czech beer are all part of the experience at Czech House in Queensberry Street, which also hosts a variety of live music performances - world, folk, jazz, gypsy, classical or blues - in an authentic Eastern European atmosphere.