water – Little Belgian in Melbourne

On a relatively cold winter night (yes it gets cold in Melbourne), James and I spent our Sunday night outside at the Firelight Festival.

From June 30 to July 2, Docklands was lit up with fire torches, fireworks, music and warm winter food.

Bringing a winter festival to Melbourne might seem odd, but it does work. Since the nights were chilly, the fire warmed up all the visitors who managed to fight the cold and get outside.

There were food stands, gas fires to warm your hands on, live entertainment and a gigantic burning torch on the water. Great fun for everyone, young and old.

Mayor Robert Doyle said the Firelight Festival is the perfect way to bring people together during winter (Source: Herald Sun). And we were very close together.

The promise of fireworks, mulled wine and warm finger food attracted thousands of people and families.

I don’t think the huge turnout was expected, since the setup didn’t accommodate the large crowd well, resulting in hold ups and massive cues.

We did manage to sample some delicious donuts, crepes and a hot chocolate, and all was forgiven again. Of course, the fireworks were the highlight of the evening.

The only downside was the lack of drinking stands. I truly missed our Belgian winter drinks such as some delicious jenever!

We have never seen Docklands this busy on a weekend night.

Docklands is a new part of Melbourne hosting mainly large business offices. Most of the time it is deadly quiet here at night.

This initiative from the city of Melbourne is a very smart one to successfully attract more people to Docklands and their restaurants.

All in all, a very enjoyable evening. We will go again next year!