Summer might technically be over, but Fed Square’s Open Air at the Square program is keeping the good vibes rolling all through March.
To cap off a season of epic events unfolding in the heart of the city, Fed Square is ending their summer program with a bang of the biggest and boldest proportions.
Massive names like international icons Sun Ra Arkestra and local heroes Mildlife and Peach PRC will be taking over the stage for an open air concert to rival them all. Asia TOPA is hosting a plethora of festival events in the Square to get the little ones involved and street dance is stealing the show in the calendar of community events.
Explore Melbourne’s latest arts and stage news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
The sun isn’t going to keep on shining like this for much longer, so get out and about and into the Square for one last hurrah this March. Read on to find out about each of the events beaming brightly in the centre of the city to wrap up this season of Open Air at the Square.
Live Music
Mildlife, Sun Ra Arkestra, Wax’o Paradiso and DJs Pjenné & Millú
- Saturday, March 1, from 6.30pm to 11pm
- Main Square
- More info here
Cosmic worlds collide in this grand union of sonic universes. Legendary space-sent musicians Sun Ra Arkestra are bringing their free-jazz energy to the Square to kick off March. Alongside the spacey musos are Naarm favourites Mildlife – a crew that are sure to take you on one hell of a psychedelic jazz-funk trip. DJs Pjenné & Millú will be playing interstitial sets between acts, while Wax’o Paradiso will also be joining the bill to end the night’s proceedings.
Peach PRC, George Alice and Carla Wehbe
- Sunday, March 9, from 7.30pm to 10.30pm
- Main Square
- More info here
Rumours that pop girl summer is over are about to be dispelled. With as epic a lineup of pop party legends as this, it’s clear that Open Air at the Square sure aren’t fluffing around.
Bubblegum-punk-popstar Peach PRC will be taking to the stage as the headliner of the night, supported by fellow Aussie pop darlings George Alice and Carla Wehbe. As if it can’t get any better than that, Moomba long weekend will be unfolding just across the river, so expect a backdrop of exploding fireworks as you dance your heart out.
Asia TOPA
Bread, Circuses and Home
View this post on Instagram
- Until Monday, March 10
- Flinders Street Amphitheater
- More info here
Asia TOPA has arrived in town and with it, a program of sensational events happening around the city. Open Air at the Square is playing host to a range of Asia TOPA events, with public art installation Bread, Circuses and Home free to visit until the end of the festival. A performance series about migration and resilience, this isn’t one to miss.
Shadows in Twin Cities: Watch Me Fly (바람을 만난 그림자)
View this post on Instagram
- Until Monday, March 10, from 10am to 2pm
- Big Screen
One foot in Fed Square and one in South Korea. This is the idea that surrounds the series Shadows in Twin Cities by artists Jessica Wilson and Gijong Yoo 유기종. The series includes three events that will connect children from Naarm to children from Jeonju in Korea through conversations around city landscapes.
Watch Me Fly is a brilliant way to kick off this series. This large-scale video installation will connect kids from the big screen of Fed Square to an alternate urban landscape in Jeonju.
Shadows in Twin Cities: Find My Shadow (그림자 숨바꼭질)
View this post on Instagram
- Until Monday, March 10, from 10am to 5pm
- Collect a map from the Atrium
Next up for the Shadows in Twin Cities series is Find My Shadow. This installation encourages children to hunt around the landscape of Fed Square in search of the shadows of their Korean friends who have flown across oceans to land in Naarm. Interactive and immersive, kids will love this activity that will have them treasure-hunting around the communal hub.
Shadows in Twin Cities: Meet Me (너랑 나랑)
View this post on Instagram
- Saturday, March 1 and Sunday, March 2, from 11am, 12pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm
- ArtPlay
- Tickets here
Meet Me is a participative intercultural workshop that further extends the relationship between the kids of Naarm with the kids of Jeonju. Participants will make a new friend from Korea through the life-size video screen, as well as create life-size drawings of each other. Taking place at ArtPlay, you’ll want to snatch up tickets to this one quickly before they’re all gone.
Outdoor Cinema
Birrarangga Film Festival 2025: Windcatcher
- Sunday, March 23, from 4pm
- Main Square
- More info here
The 2025 Birrarangga Film Festival is hosting a very special screening of Windcatcher at the Square this month. This family-friendly feel-good film boasts some big names of Australian royalty: Jessica Mauboy, Lennox Monaghan and Pia Miranda, to name a few. This celebration of global Indigenous films is a great opportunity to bring along the fam, pack some picnic chairs and snacks, and settle in for a night of cinema under the stars.
Community Events
City Sessions Street Dance Showdown
View this post on Instagram
- Sunday, March 2, from 6pm
- Main Square
- More info here
Fed Square is getting a street dance takeover as the best of the best in Australia are hitting up the dance floor at Open Air at the Square. Street dance competition City Sessions is a mecca of talent, culture, community and art. It’s not just dancing you’ll find at this event – it’s the power of inclusivity through movement.
Sounds of Summer: Curated Playlists
View this post on Instagram
Crissy (@_mothafunk)- With Mothafunk and Emelyne
- Until Monday, March 31, from 12pm
- Main Square
- More info here
As the weather continues to cosplay as summer, now the music will too. The curated playlists from Mothafunk and Emelyne will continue all through March as part of the Sounds of Summer series. From midday to 5.30pm every day that an event isn’t happening at Open Air at the Square, expect the perfect playlist to groove along to as you’re wandering throughout the city centre.
Huddle
View this post on Instagram
- Until Monday, March 31, from 7pm
- Main Square
- More info here
Powerful new screen commission Huddle will be taking over the big screen at Fed Square until the end of March. An exploration of the historical significance of Deaf huddling, Huddle interrogates how this simple activity represents a practice of resilience, agency and communal protection.
Across the live music, outdoor cinema, Asia TOPA and community event streams, Open Air at the Square has a little something in store for every kind of city-goer milling about bustling precinct this March – and all of it is free.
Check out the entire summer program for Open Air at the Square here.
This article was made in partnership with Fed Square.
