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 Our Home Page | Cultural Festivals | Cultural Precincts | Traditional Melbourne Festivals and Events | MCS CBD Homepage **MELBOURNE'S CULTURAL PRECINCTS **

Lygon Street (Italian) | Lonsdale Street (Greek) | Little Bourke Street (Chinese) A precinct is an area with its own unique style and character, even culture. Melbourne's city has many cultural precincts within its boundaries. There are three main cultural precincts in the city of Melbourne, and we will be covering all of them. The precincts include Lygon Street, Lonsdale Street, and Little Bourke Street.  ** LYGON STREET (ITALIAN) ** Lygon Street is Melbourne's Italian Precinct, which isn't exactly located inside the CBD, but is about a 1.5 km north from Melbourne's city centre, in Carlton. In the early 1900s, Italians from across the world settled in Victoria's Carlton and over many years, have made Lygon Street their own. Lygon Street was the first Melbourne suburb to introduce eating outdoors, with tables and chairs on a footpath, and this has influenced many other cafes and restaurants to do so as well. The precinct includes many restaraunts, cafes, gardens, terraces, bars, bookstores, galleries and the latest Australian and European fashion. So in other words, it is a great place for shopping and strolling, whilst having a delicious Italian coffee. The street is lined with heritage listed buildings, making it a great place to explore its early history. Every year in October, there is a Lygon Street fiesta. The festival is a celebration of Italian culture, where everyone can come and enjoy Italian culture for free. It is also one of Australias largest outdoor festivities and Italians are confident that it will stay as one.Ma Ma Mia!

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** LONSDALE STREET (GREEK) ** Melbourne's Lonsdale Street is located between Swanston and Russell Street, in the City Centre. The street is the famous cultural precinct for the Greek people of Melbourne. Melbourne has the largest Greek population in the world, apart from Greece itself. You can find Greek restaurants and cultural shops in other areas around Melbourne, but Lonsdale Street is the place to go when you're in Melbourne. Some people say that the precinct isnt a "precinct" like other precincts such as Lygon Street and Chinatown, although, we don't know why. The street has been popular for a long period of time, but has lost its popularity over the years. In March 2009, the Victorian government and the City of Melbourne announced that the Greek precinct would recieve 3.5 million dollars for rejuvenation purposes.

Every year there is an annual Antipodes Greek Festival which is held for a week in March and has been ever since 1987 when it first started. To find out more about the Antipodes Greek Festival, please visit the Cultural Festivals page, or go to this link : Antipodes Festival Back to top **LITTLE BOURKE STREET (CHINESE)** Neehow! It all began with the Goldrush. When the Goldrush started, many people from all over the world came here to Melboourne, Australia to dig and look for gold. While they were here, the small Chinese community provided all the needs for the Australian diggers. From about the 1970s onward, growth was experienced between all the Chinese. All the gold had dried up and some of the Chinese community that came here to Australia went back their homelands. The ones that stayed here in Melbourne, went on to discover Melbourne's own little Chinatown. The Chinese found work and from then on, the population has grown, so much so that they have created their own well known precinct in the heart of Melbourne. Today, Chinatown is a major place of foundation for the Chinese people of Melbourne. It's main focus is along Litlle Bourke Street, but with small alleys linking it to Bourke Street and Londsdale Street. Chinatown is the centre of Chinese culture and many festivals and events are held there over the course of the year. One major event is called the Chinese New Year. To find more information about the Chinese New Year, please visit this link : Chinese New Year Apart from its traditions and history, Chinatown is famous for its restaurants and is very well known for its fashion and mini arcades. Some people might say that Chinatown is a bit like a Shopping Centre, as it has many grocery stored, herbal remedial medicine, chemists, bookstores and Chinese cafes, with delicious hot herbal tea.

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