Festive Season Madness!

The Festive Season is fast approaching, and with it comes a whole raft of things to see and do for nil to nearly nix! With all that Christmas shopping ahead, you have a few excuses for being skint, after all.

Summer Fun in the City is about to start again - there will be dance lessons, free music, art classes, walks, acrobatics and lots more to do! There's also plenty of activities for kids, so bring along your minors as an excuse to indulge your inner child for a day.

Check out the discounted meal deals and some top restaurants on That's Melbourne's website. There's 2 for 1 lunches, drinks specials and more.

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl holds the well-attended Carols by Candlelight every year - but if you can't afford the $125/45 entry fee, you can attend the rehersal night on the 23rd of December, for a mere $5. Get there early though, as seats go fast!

As for the big day itself, I'm plan on getting a Christmas Orphan's Club together. Yes, all we whom have to work the day before or after, and whose family live too far away to make the hike, shall come together on an undoubtedly boiling hot day in the park for food, wine and god times. There shall indeed be champagne and mezzo aplenty. Tis the season. It's a great way to ensure nobody is left out of the festive madness.

All the $ you save can go towards Boxing Day sales craziness! You know what it's like... every year, never again, then it all happens again.

Guide on gift buying on the cheap is soon to follow.

Festival Vollies

I've absolutely FALLEN IN LOVE with festival volunteering this year.
There's so many benefits.
Including:

1. Meeting Cool People - People from all age groups, backgrounds and parts of town put their hands up for these things. You'll also be likely to meet people with similar interests to you. It's a great way to meet new people if you're new in town, or break out of a social circle that's suddenly decided to go all boa-constrictor on your arse.

2. Giving back to your community - C'mon, it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside, you know it! Be a part of Generation Generosity and lend a helping hand to an event or festival you care about!

3. Learning new skills and getting job experience - This is a great way to learn about opportunities in the field, gaining new skills, improving your confidence, and even getting a good reference or two. Make sure you whack all of this on your resume. You'll get brownie points for being involved in your community, and if you're unemployed you are showing initiative for not just sitting on your hands.

3. Getting free stuff - Oh yes.

So far, I've volunteered for The Melbourne Writer's Festival, Fringe Festival and Overload Poetry Festival. All have been exciting, challenging and stimulating events to work for, and I've gotten to experience some great arts events that I couldn't have otherwise afforded in my wildest dreams. Also - they tend to throw not too shabby volunteer parties afterwards. :)

These things usually start searching for vollies a few months before, so you have to be onto it, as demand is usually high, especially for the particularly popular events.

Just FYI: Some of the events are so exclusive that they require quite a bit of experience before they'll accept you, so if you get some work under your belt around this time of year, you'll have a better chance of succeeding in them. These events include: MIFF, The Melbourne Festival, ANY music event, and The Food and Wine Festival.

It's a good idea to do your volunteering in 'chunks'. I've just done mine: I put my name down for Midsumma and The Food and Wine Festival.