White Night Melbourne

After missing out on White Night last year, we were keen to make it this time. White Night is the one night in the year when almost the whole city of Melbourne is closed to pedestrian traffic only and various artists use landmark buildings around town as their backdrop for their light projections. I don’t know where this originated from but it has certainly taken on a following in Melbourne.

However if there is one thing about it that I do not fancy, it is the overwhelming crowds at certain locations. There is this one intersection in the city where in the last year we went, there was such a mass of people that we were literally jammed in the centre unable to move forwards or backwards. Even sideways was impossible with people just pouring into the intersection, all wanting to get to the other side from which they came. I think you know what happens when traffic lights fail at a major intersection. It is traffic anarchy!

Anyway, we noted that the organizers tried to solve that problem this year by making sure that are no light projections on the buildings at that intersection. And instead, they tried to spread it out to the fringes of the city. That solved the congestion issues but made this years White Night less of a spectacle in my opinion. That intersection happens to be where some of the most iconic buildings in Melbourne are and hence their appeal. Without that, it was almost a disappointment to arrive and not see them brightly lit up in the colours of the rainbow. 

Regardless, we still had an enjoyable night and with my Fitbit clocking in at over 14,000 steps, we certainly walked a fair bit! So here are some of my favourite photos of the night. I hope you enjoy them. 

 

Aboriginal elder preparing the opening ceremony to White Night at the Exhibition Building
  
The back of the Exhibition building
 
 
RMIT University facade with its light projections
  
Rope Skipping using light ropes at the old Melbourne gaol
    
State Library of Victoria. We were waiting in a queue to get in
  
The light show inside State Library. It was our favourite of the night.
  
Interior of the State Library – Fractals
     
Interior of the State Library still . . . reminds me of autumn
   
Facade of Federation Square
  
Along the walls of the National Gallery of Victoria
  
And just in case you were wondering about the crowds., I threw in this photo of Swanston street filled with people.
 

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