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Fed Square's 'Open Air' Series To Return With Tina Arena, Folk B*tch Trio & More

Mary Varvaris

Live music, outdoor cinema, and unique performances will bring Melbourne's CBD to life next month.

Outdoor Cinema at Fed Square's 'Open Air' series
Outdoor Cinema at Fed Square's 'Open Air' series(Credit: Tobias Titz)
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Next month, the Open Air live entertainment series returns to Melbourne’s tourist destination, Fed Square.

In the heart of the CBD, patrons can gather for live music, outdoor cinema, and unique performances. For the live music program, the excitement begins on Saturday, 7 February, as the Main Square comes to life with the talent quest, Garage Band, searching for emerging local talent.

From 10-12 February, Fed Square will be home to Candlelight Concerts. Three intimate, candlelit evenings will take advantage of the long summer days, with music icon Tina Arena, indie stars Folk Bitch Trio, and rising R&B singer Dean Brady all set to perform.

The fun continues throughout the month: New Orleans’ Big Freedia is heading Down Under to perform with friends for a massive, energetic celebration of LGBTQIA+ hip-hop and queer culture on Friday, 27 February.

If you’re looking for something a bit different, global music visionaries will team up on Saturday, 28 February. House music pioneer François K, genre-bending Greek pop artist Σtella and classical Indian and jazz-trained vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ganavya are all set to perform.

Meanwhile, the Outdoor Cinema program features films for families, cinephiles, and everything in between.

Films including Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and Robert Altman’s The Player will air as part of the reflective series, Outdoor Cinema: In Defence of Satire, from Monday, 2 February, to Thursday, 5 February.

Silent Cinema with Live Scores also returns this year, combining Melburnians’ love for cinema with live music by curating select classic silent films and having the country’s leading musician-composers bring the stories to life.

Highlights include DJ Lori spotlighting the newly restored Australian silent film For the Term of His Natural Life, Sally Ford and the Idiomatics performing the score for Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 masterpiece Modern Times, and Mindy Meng Wang & Burkhard Dallwitz playing the live score for the Chinese silent film, The Goddess.

You can explore the complete Open Air program on the Fed Square website.

Discussing the return of the Open Air series, Melbourne Arts Precinct Director & CEO Katrina Sedgwick said, “We’re proud to once again present Fed Square’s hugely popular Open Air festival this February.”

“Featuring live music concerts, cinema under the stars, dance parties, sound systems and performance art. Summer is the perfect time to come together, settle into Fed Square, and enjoy the very best of Melbourne’s arts and culture – and all of it is free.”

Minister for Creative Industries, Colin Brooks, added, “Fed Square has always been the city’s gathering space and it’s now a destination for incredible performances and events – all free and open to all ages. Programs like this that bring Victorians and visitors together showcase once again why Melbourne is the cultural capital and Victoria is the creative state.”