MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork by The Pitcha Makin Fellas and OCUBO is projected onto the facade of the Royal Exhibition Building as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)Melbourne has lit up for its annual White Night Festival.
Now in its fourth year, the all-night celebration lasted from Saturday 7pm to Sunday 7am with half a million people gathering in the city to celebrate its culture and creativity.
The 12-hour light festival transformed some of Melbourne’s iconic landmarks into light installations and also saw a number of exhibitions, street performances and interactive events take place in the city’s streets.
Dome: the final frontier #whitenightmelb pic.twitter.com/zJsctcPeGR
— State Library Vic (@Library_Vic) February 20, 2016
The idea for White Night (Nuit Blanche) originally came about in Paris in 2002 as an arts and culture festival. Since then, more than 20 cities around the world have held their own White Night event such as Rome, Helsinki, and Toronto with the first one in Melbourne taking place in 2013 drawing over 300,000 visitors.
The Victorian Government is seeking a regional centre to co-host the overnight event next year which brought in close to $17 million last year.
“Regional centres like Geelong and Ballarat and Bendigo and other centres are so important to our economy and we want to make sure that we grow the economy in regional Victoria through these events,” minister for tourism and major events John Eren told the ABC.
Here’s a look at this year’s White Night:
Royal Exhibition Building
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork by The Pitcha Makin Fellas and OCUBO is projected onto the facade of the Royal Exhibition Building as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork by The Pitcha Makin Fellas and OCUBO is projected onto the facade of the Royal Exhibition Building as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)State Library
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork by Amanda Morgan is projected onto the facade of the State Library as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)Flinders Station
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: A large crowd is seen outside Flinders Station during White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)Federation Square
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork titled ‘FEDERATION¬©√∑’ by Reko Rennie is projected onto the facade of Federation Square as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork titled ‘FEDERATION¬©√∑’ by Reko Rennie is projected onto the facade of Federation Square as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)National Gallery of Victoria
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Artwork titled ‘Still Here’ by Josh Muir is projected onto the facade of the National Gallery of Victoria as part of White Night Melbourne on February 20, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)Business Insider Emails & Alerts
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