Melbourne’s White Night Festival Expands Music Content

Having attracted unprecedented numbers to the inaugural White Night event earlier this year, plans for next year's festival were unveiled today at the Melbourne City Baths.

White Night is a part of an international chain of night time events that invite people to explore cities in darkness, with Melbourne one of 23 participating cities that also include Paris and Toronto.

The next White Night will take place in Melbourne between the hours of 7pm and 7am on Saturday 22 February, once again including a strong musical component.

While today's launch was scarce on details it was announced that the main music stage – once again curated by The Cat Empire's Felix Riebl – would be moved from the steps of Flinders St station to the “Northern Lights” precinct  (Swanston St, between Lonsdale Street and the City Baths).

The event will coincide with the closing night of the Mushroom Group's Music, Melbourne & Me exhibition at RMIT. At its recent launch it was intimated that the main White Night music stage would be situated outside the State Library.

The relocation of the stage is a necessity as it caused a major bottle-neck earlier this year, causing the crossing of Bourke St to take up to 15 minutes at some points of the night. With the stage moved further down Swanston St, pedestrian flow should improve for the next White Night.

A second music stage was also revealed for the Bourke St Mall. The J + R&B Music Stage will be programmed by Julie O'Hara and focus on rhythm and blues and jazz performances. The night will also include a video and sound installation with music by composer John Phillips (Not Drowning Waving).

Unlike overseas White Night events which tend to celebrate the “every day” of local surrounds (public buildings explored at night, local produce given away free, hidden pockets of the city given a spotlight, etc), the Melbourne event is starting out with an emphasis on one-off artistic events. With today's launch littered with the overuse of the word “quirky”, the 2014 programme was revealed to include short film screenings in taxis, synchronised swimming displays, a fashion installation that will “comment on the tradition of opening night”, a “re-imagined” split screening of the box office flop The Turning and so on.

However, there will be a return of this year's more lowbrow highlights such as the popular building projections. The event also promises some innovative 3D light displays, an extended use of the CBD's surrounding parks and the Southbank Pedestrian Bridge being transformed into a futuristic-style vortex.