The kooky winter arts festival returns in June with more than 100 events. Mark your calendar for a free all-ages dance party at Fed Square, a performance from jazz legend Kahil El’Zabar and the latest satire from playwright Chenturan Aran.

In the hidden rooms above Flinders Street Station, this playable art exhibition, produced entirely by female and gender diverse artists, pays homage to the subversive history of minigolf. In partnership with Rising, we grab a putter and take a swing.

Designer Brittney Wheeler is behind the creative packaging and merch of your fave food and drink heavyweights like Four Pillars Gin, Lune and Baker Bleu, plus high-end brands like P Johnson. She talks bagging heavy sandwiches, thinking in 3D and sustainable design.

Do the June long weekend right with a romp through Rising’s cutting-edge programming, with stops at some of Melbourne’s best-loved eateries. In partnership with Rising, this savvy itinerary includes movie marathons, band anniversaries, venue takeovers, art installations and more – all within walking distance.

The two-time Helpmann Award-winning choreographer first learnt to move from ’80s breakdance movies. His latest performance You, Beauty – premiering as part of Rising – explores the intimate experience of first love.

The co-artistic director of Melbourne’s winter arts festival likes to haunt bookshops, play games in a medieval tavern, and yell-talk with friends in a family-run restaurant. Here’s what else she gets up to around town.

The festival’s buzzing pop-up hub is taking over the historic arcades beneath the Capitol Theatre with art installations, unmissable DJ sets and good times over three weekends.

Returning for its fourth edition, this year’s Rising is set to be the boldest and longest yet. With over 100 events to choose from, we’ve put together an essential guide to all the experiences you can enjoy totally free of charge.

Day one, done. Despite the rain, the ambitious winter festival kicked off with a heaving party, a groundbreaking takeover of Flinders Street Station Ballroom, a pop-up rink by the river and plenty more. Our photographer captured all the action.

Rising has a new music curator in the chair, and she’s assembled an incredibly eclectic program of acts to play across Max Watts, The Forum and Melbourne Recital Centre this June. A sense of history and purpose sit at its core, uniting seemingly disjointed acts.

Two musical traditions, ancient and modern, are being brought to the masses at this year’s Rising, in large, participatory events. Between Consort of the Moon and 10,000 Kazoos, you’ll find a bewildering array of sounds but what do a hymn discovered on ancient clay tablets and a kazoo have in common? More than you might think.

He’s worked with Erykah Badu, MF Doom, Freddie Gibbs and Four Tet, plus he’s currently producing Mac Miller’s posthumous EP. And next month, he’s heading to Aussie soil for the first time in 11 years.

Flinders Street Station’s upper levels will transform into an exhibition dedicated to exploring the connection to spirit worlds throughout memory and time. In partnership with Rising, we find out what we can expect from this blockbuster exhibition running for just eight weeks.

You’ve never seen these characters like this before. In partnership with Rising, we go behind the scenes of this tender and surprising multimedia stage performance exploring grief, the joy in remembering lost parents and the queer concept of chosen family.

For 10 nights, a little-used car park on Flinders Street will transform into the best party in the city, courtesy of Rising.

Artist Tamara Cubas invites you to take part in... something. At this year's Rising, her piece Multitud needs to be experienced firsthand to be fully appreciated.

The beacon-like pop-up restaurant barely got a chance to show itself last year. Now, refined and updated, it’s ready to make a big impact with a more casual drop-in space to complement the five-course set menu by David Moyle, Jo Barrett and Matt Stone.

The events of 2021 haven’t dampened the energy or aspirations of the huge arts festival. If anything, it’s given the organisers time to sharpen their approach. This time around they’ll turn Sidney Myer into a technicolour field of inflatable sculptures, light up Chinatown with dozens of profound projections, and stage thought-provoking plays, gigs and performance pieces at key venues across the city.

Patricia Piccinini’s A Miracle Constantly Repeated will reopen after the Queen’s Birthday weekend, but all other Rising events are canned for 2021 – with refunds already being issued.

It’s the news we expected but didn’t want to accept. All events will be cancelled from 5pm today, with refunds issued to ticket holders.

Ahead of her new show in Melbourne’s Flinders Street ballroom, we step into the strange and wonderful world of one of Australia’s foremost artists. There we find gender-fluid nudes, drawers overflowing with both human and animal hair, and an anthropomorphised cat with tyre-tread flesh.

From levitating moon sculptures and bamboo forests to laneway pop-up bars, improv theatre shows and fireworks – these upcoming winter festivals are brightening up our cooler days and longer nights.