From Saturday 1 April to Thursday 13 April at O’Brien Group Arena, visitors can meet their favourite Marvel Character these Easter school holidays.

Two Marvel superheroes every day will meet and greet skaters who can snap a pose with their favourite character and let their favourite hero know their own superhero goals!

Then in the Superhero Zone, kids can take a break from the ice and explore the world of their favourite characters with craft activities.

Characters visiting O’Brien Group Arena are Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow.

The Easter School Holiday program will include:

• All day unlimited public skating - From 9am to late every day skate with DJ’s playing your favorite music across the two Olympic size ice rinks

• Meet your favourite Marvel characters – Between 11am and 2pm every day

• Super Hero Zone  - Between 9am and 3pm every day, where kids can take a break from the ice and explore the world of the the Avengers with craft activities

• Free face painting – for kids

• Under 8’s Ice Fun – Between 9am to 11am daily - toys, games and music, plus snow play areas for children to enjoy a totally different toddler experience with Ice Ambassadors to make sure both parents and children have some cool ice fun.

• Free Lessons – Beginners. Free with entry and designed to give non skaters the skills they require to enjoy their experience. Every hour from 11am to 2pm daily

• Free Lessons – How to Skate Backwards. Free with entry and designed to encourage skaters to improve their skills. Every hour from 11am to 2pm daily

Costs for the day are as follows;

• Adult - $27 including skate hire

• Child (6 to 14) - $23 including skate hire

• Child (3 to 5) - $14 including skate hire

• Family (two adults and two children) - $82 including skate hire 

The O’Brien Group Arena Ice Ambassadors will be on hand to help visitors of all ages improve their ice skating skills.

There will also be plenty of fantastic daily giveaways and prizes to enjoy.

For instant skating access, purchase your tickets online and spend more time skating and less time in queues! Check out their latest ticketing system here!

If you are looking for fun and exciting activities to help keep the kids occupied during the Easter school holidays, then O’Brien Group Arena has you covered.

Entry for all day unlimited skating and Easter school holiday activities:

O’Brien Group Arena continues its extensive promotions and partnerships well into summer, giving visitors the best value entry fees and ancillary offers available. These offers include a partnership with Melbourne Star (Observation Wheel) where guests can enjoy a 20% discount for a flight upon display of their skating ticket. 

In Australia, millions of people of all ages are affected by trauma. It is estimated that one in four Australian adults are living with the impacts of childhood trauma alone. With such a vast number of people affected, trauma needs to be everyone’s business and everybody needs to be trauma-informed. The guide includes how to talk about trauma in everyday conversations and provide sensitive social support to those affected by trauma.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has drawn attention to the endemic child sexual abuse and systemic betrayal of trust that occurred within Australian mainstream institutions including churches, schools, and orphanages. While prevalent and damaging, this is only one sort of trauma. Trauma also includes physical and emotional abuse, neglect, the effects of violence in the home and on the streets, as well as the impacts of other adverse childhood events such as living with a parent with a mental illness or who abuses substances.

The reality of trauma has entered the public psyche through the 24-hour news cycle, social media, and published research. To reduce the repercussions of trauma in our community, the community-at-large would benefit from being informed about the nature and sources of trauma and how to respond appropriately, in particular when trauma touches the family unit. Families are complex and any interpersonal trauma within the family can cause a ripple effect.

Dr Cathy Kezelman AM, President of Blue Knot Foundation, said, “Sometimes it may seem easier to talk with a person we know, yet knowing them well can also be a hindrance. Trauma within the family unit, can have repercussions for other family members and the family system as a whole. If you suspect or become aware of a family member’s interpersonal trauma, it is more important to raise your concerns sensitively rather than stay silent.”

The core trauma-informed principles are safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment and Dr Kezelman says these need to form the basis of all conversations, especially with those who have experienced interpersonal trauma. Dr Kezelman advises considering the following questions for conversations with a family member who is suspected or known to be experiencing interpersonal trauma:

- What is my ‘role’ relationship to the person? (i.e. mother, partner, sibling etc.) Are there any power dynamics that I need to consider?

- How do our personalities and roles affect our relationship? How close do I feel to this person and how might it affect our conversation? This includes the sense of safety and level of comfort

- How frequently am I in contact with this person? How does that affect having this conversation, including if I need to follow up? A situation in which you are in regular contact with a family member to whom you generally relate well is different to one in which you have a significant conversation ‘out of the blue’ with a family member with whom you don’t have a good personal connection. In this case the ‘role’ aspect may dominate

- Might I need ‘support to offer support’? Can I enlist this support from inside the family? If not, who might I consult? Note that safety, both physical and emotional, is paramount

Australia is leading the way with the essential guide, Talking About Trauma, Guide to Everyday Conversations About Trauma, which is available for download here. A separate publication for health professionals and other service providers is currently being developed.

If you need help, information, support or referral, call Blue Knot Helpline on 1300 657 380 or email helpline@blueknot.org.au between 9am-5pm Monday to Sunday AEST.

CABARET is coming to Melbourne this April. This amazing production is the winner of 12 Tony Awards, 8 Academy Awards and 7 BAFTA Awards and has wowed audiences time after time!

CABARET in it's musical form, is based on The Berlin Stories, by famous author Christopher Isherwood, who exchanged his upper middle class life for the sexual freedom and the social liberation of Berlin in the 1930's. The musical, adapted by song and lyrics team Kander and Ebb, became a semi biographical portrait of Isherwood's life, celebrating life on the edge.

Beneath the fun and games of CABARET lies an ominous melody, providing a glimpse of vibrant Berlin's dark undercurrents during the rise of Hitler. It will walk the tightrope of pure entertainment and serious political consciousness and for this very reason, the musical continues to allure audiences.



David M. Hawkins is proud to bring this innovative and exciting new production to Australia.

"My aim is to create a new production of CABARET that engages audiences unlike any previous production, and to do that I believe we need to return to the original source material. The universal issue of the human condition at the core of CABARET comes from Christopher Isherwood and his perception of what it was like to live in Berlin during the rise of Hitler." Hawkins said.

This amazing show will run from April 27th at The Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. Head to the CABARET website for more details.

- W I N -

Win your way to this toe tapping show with Middle Class Mamas! You can find the Cabaret post on both Instagram and Facebook, simply like and you're in the draw! Please feel free to share this comp with your friends or tag them in the feed to let them know! Total prize value is worth $160 for a double pass!

T & C's

* Open to Victorian residents only

* Tickets are for the 2nd May show at 7:30pm only

* Tickets are not transferrable or refundable.

On Sunday the 9th of April, Melbourne's iconic pier, The Landing, will light up with a combination of artists, cultures, iconic sounds, new collaborations, music, dance and activities for all ages.

Highlight artists include Joe Camilleri & The Black Sorrows, The Core-tet, Oi Dipnoi, the Habibi's, Mojo Juju & the Samoan Chior with MC Ana GoGo and DJ PAZ.

In addition to the amazing entertainment, the day will also include a fashion show, historical tours, poetry, craft, dance and song workshops. To fill the tummy, there will be food from around the globe and the International Teahouse too.

The kids will be entertained with face painting, puppet shows hoops and much, much more.

The festival will run only on Sunday the 9th of April from 11am - 5pm, on The Landing, 2 Pier Street Port Melbourne. For more information, head to the Multicultural Arts Victoria website! 

Enjoy!