Animania Festival's next stop after Sydney will be Melbourne!

Animania Festival 2009 will head to Melbourne in April, bringing its classic events including Karaoke, Doodling competitions, all-day Screenings and video games in the Gamer Room. The Animania Festival Cosplay Competition as well as Round 2 of the World Cosplay Summit Preliminaries will also be in store for all Cosplayers. These much anticipated Cosplay events will grace the Main Stage along with the mixed bag game show, Olympia. Find out more about What's On at this Animania Festival.

• Venue (and how to get there)
• Festival Times
• Plan Your Trip

Venue

Animania Festival Sydney March will be held at the Rydges Hotel Melbourne, located in the heart of the theatre district and on the doorstep of Chinatown.

Rydges Hotel Melbourne
186 Exhibition Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

The venue is situated opposite Her Majesty’s Theatre and within walking distance to sporting venues such as the MCG, Telstra Dome, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park and many other attractions. For more information on the venue itself, please visit the Rydges Hotel Melbourne website.

Please note that the Rydges Hotel Melbourne will not be able to answer Festival-specific queries, eg. Cosplay queries. If you have any specific questions about Animania Festival Melbourne April, please contact us directly.

How to get to the Venue

The Rydges Hotel Melbourne is easily accessible by car, bus and train.

By Car

If you are planning to drive in to visit the Animania Festival, travel along the Tullamarine Fwy and take the left turn off to Flemington Rd when you approach Melbourne City. At the Roundabout continue straight ahead onto Elizabeth St. Turn left at Victoria Pde and right into Exhibition St. Rydges Melbourne will be on your left.

Parking is available on site at a reasonable daily rate. There are also several parking stations available in close vicinity to the hotel. Off-street parking is also available.

By Public Transport

The nearest bus stop is located on Exhibition Street, the nearest train station is Parliament Railway Station located on Spring Street (1 block from the hotel) and the nearest tram stop is located on Bourke Street (50m from the hotel). There is also a taxi rank right in front of the hotel.

For information on public transport options and timetables in Melbourne, please refer to the Metlink Melbourne website.

 

Festival Times

Date: Saturday, 18 April 2009

Operating Hours: 10am - 4pm

 

Plan Your Trip

Here are some tips to help further plan your trip and make your Animania Festival experience an awesome one:

• Pack your bag the night before with essentials such as your wallet, mobile phone and some cash (the nearest ATM is in the convenience store on the corner of Bourke and Exhibition Streets).
• The Festival Program will be made available on the website closer to the date. Check this out before heading to the Festival and plan out your day so that you don't miss any of the events you want to see.
• There will be water stations at the venue to keep you hydrated but bringing your own bottle of water may also be a good idea. Note: You will not be allowed to bring any open drinks into the venue, this includes drink cups and bottles (eg. from KFC or Easy Way).

Some other key questions to ask when planning your trip might be:

• If coming from interstate, how am I getting to Melbourne? Will I need to book travel?
• If going to the Festival with friends, where/when/how will I be meeting up with them?
• If going by public transport, will there be any disruptions to the service? (e.g. trackwork)
• If driving, where is the best place to park my car? (check the map above)
• What will I need to bring on the day?
• What will the weather be like on the day?

Also, don't forget that you can save time and money on Festival entry by pre-registering!