In our new weekly column (or as frequently as our writer remembers), we give you our picks for how to spend your weekends around our neighbourhoods. Get out, and catch some of the super cool stuff going on around you. 

Main image via Ed Dunens

BRUNCH

Frank’s 
97 Cavenagh Street Cheltenham
Details

A favourite spot for Cheltenham’s locals, be sure to tick Frank’s off your Places I’ve Been Meaning To Go For Ages list. A bright, warm aesthetic mixed with a friendly neighbourhood vibe, Frank’s is renowned for dishing up good, honest food like Golden Gaytime panna cotta, reuben sandwiches, banh mi, doughnuts and the classic I-can't-afford-a-house-coz-I-eat-too-much-smashed-avo smashed avo, and may we remind you of the aforementioned Golden Gaytime panna cotta. That is all.

SHOP

Bared Footwear Warehouse Sale
18-20 Edwards Street Oakleigh
Details

If you’re sick of hearing your lady friends complain about sore feet due to the heels they choose to wear (the same ladies who probably shoot you looks which make you feel as though you're about to get stabbed in the eye with a stiletto because you said  ‘Don’t wear them then'), direct them to Bared’s warehouse sale in Oakleigh this weekend. A local label run by podiatrists, the very glam footwear collections include heels, boots, wedges, flats and sandals that are comfy, designed for proper support and look gorgeous. Step to it. Ha. Ha.

PLAY
The Albion Hotel
172 York Street South Melbourne
Details

After famously burning down just days before it was supposed to re-open a few years back, the long awaited return of the Albion Hotel is here. Set over three levels and including a lounge bar, nightclub and sprawling rooftop terrace, the venue is a one-stop destination for drinking, dining and dance floor destroying. Burn it up, kids (the dance floor, not the pub...it's probs burnt down enough already).

DANCE
St Kilda Latin Festival 
O’Donnell Gardens St Kilda 
Details

Our friends north of the river may have the iconic Johnston St fiesta, but let’s face it: it’s not beachside ergo the St Kilda Latin Festival is approximately a million times better. Get down for some samba and cerveza this Saturday and Sunday from 11 am.

CELEBRATE

Pako Festa
Pakington Street Geelong
Details

A celebration of cultural diversity and community, Pako Festa returns to Geelong West this weekend. From its quiet beginnings in 1983, the event attracted over 100,000 visitors and 10,000 performers in 2017. Eat your way around the world, choosing from a ridiculously wide range of traditional, ethnic dishes like Hangi, Inihaw, Golubtsi and Raznjici. Why do we always talk about food on this blog?

VIEW

Head of the Lake
Lake Wendouree Ballarat

Back when I was in private school in the 20th century, I was never really into rowing…I was more about the violent sports like hockey and Pythagaros theory. Regardless, pretty much every private school kid in town went to Head of the River, one of the biggest social-but-still-serious-and-highly-competitive sporting events on the calendar. Anyways, the other day I was in Ballarat and everyone was excited about this Boat Race, which I thought was like Melbourne’s inflatable regatta where people float down the gross Yarra river in inflatable boats, sinking secret beers they’ve snuck on board, but alas, it’s Ballarat’s infamous Head of the Lake regatta which everyone gets equally hyped about, minus the secret beers. Go check it out. Image via @kittelty.