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VicHealth is supporting a huge public dance event as part of the White Night 2014 event in February next year, following a wildly successful night in 2013.

A favourite from 2013, I Could Have Danced All Night returns to White Night Melbourne with another fun-filled dance extravaganza featuring 12 different dance styles to get everybody moving.

Ausdance Victoria and their professional dancers will be on hand to guide audience members through the moves of each dance style.

From synchronised swimming to live music, fashion to tattoos, illuminations and projections, White Night Melbourne 2014 will thrill and captivate when it returns to the city on Saturday 22 February.

From dusk to dawn on a single summer’s night, Melbourne’s city streets, laneways, landmarks and cultural institutions will again be transformed into a cultural playground for White Night Melbourne. In 2014, the major event will expand significantly to include 11 precincts, ranging from the National Gallery of Victoria on St Kilda Road, to the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne City Baths and the Melbourne Museum.

In a major expansion from the 2013 programme, 8 city blocks will be given over to White Night Melbourne in 2014, from Southbank Boulevard to Victoria Street, and from Elizabeth Street to Russell Street.

The first event of its kind in Australia, White Night Melbourne is a State Government of Victoria initiative created by the Victorian Major Events Company. It celebrates the city’s music, art, theatre, sport, fashion, film, design and performance.

Premier of Victoria Dr Denis Napthine said from the National Gallery of Victoria in the south to the City Baths in the north, White Night Melbourne will transform the heart of the city into a night of discovery, cultural exploration and urban adventure.

“Melbourne is renowned for its culture and creativity,” Dr Napthine said.

“White Night Melbourne gives our residents and visitors a chance to explore and engage with our city in a new and exciting way. We aim to challenge people’s perceptions and get them to notice what they see and know in a totally new light.”

Inspired by Nuit Blanche in Paris, Melbourne joins an international network of 23 major cities – from New York to Florence, Tel-Aviv to Toronto – in hosting similar all-night events.

Over 12 hours from 7pm to 7am, visitors can participate in exhibitions, street performances, fashion, lighting installations, film screenings, multimedia projections, concerts, dance and interactive events in venues, public spaces and cultural institutions throughout the city.

Held for the first time in February 2013, the inaugural event proved a spectacular success, transforming Melbourne’s streets into a hive of activity as people of all ages flocked to celebrate the city’s creative strengths.

Artistic Director Andrew Walsh AM said Melburnians had embraced the inaugural all-night event with huge crowds turning out from dusk till dawn.

“The inaugural White Night Melbourne was an extraordinary success,” Mr Walsh said. “Melbourne really is a 24-hour city, and a capital of art and culture.”

The 2014 programme will deliver more than 80 free events with activities and acts across dozens of sites.

“From live music and fashion to all-night synchronised swimming, film screenings and a continuation of the glorious projection programme, there really will be something for everyone,” Mr Walsh said.

White Night Melbourne Operations Director Bryn Skilbeck said the city would suspend the everyday as the streetscape was transformed into a wonderland of sights and sounds.

“This year’s larger precinct offers more for people coming from interstate, and overseas, as well as locally. Visitors can also take advantage of late-night public transport to soak up the atmosphere and explore the city by night.”

Many of Melbourne’s world-renowned cultural institutions – including Arts Centre Melbourne, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne Museum, National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria – will again open their doors all night, boasting special programming and exhibitions.

Public spaces, including Federation Square, Melbourne City Baths, Flinders Street Station and Bourke Street Mall, will come to life with performances and activities.

Highlights of the free programme include:

• I Could Have Danced All Night (supported by VicHealth): A favourite returns for another fun-filled dance extravaganza featuring 12 different dance styles to get everybody moving.

• Northern Lights Music Stage: Following on from the success of the Flinders Street Station music stage as part of White Night Melbourne 2013, the new northern precinct will play host to a music stage featuring musical acts throughout the night.

• Crepuscular Beam: A visual beacon that will be seen from all parts of the city. Searchlight and sound will combine to create a work of mesmerising beauty.

• Midden: A real-time 3D content visualisation at Birrarung Marr created by eness that pays homage to the traditional owners of the land.

• Making Fashion Move: Explore the city to find these fun and dramatic animated images from international and local runway collections created by FashGif.

• Tim Winton’s The Turning: Created by award winning Melbourne based director-producer Robert Connolly, eighteen directors from diverse artistic backgrounds each interpret one chapter of Tim Winton’s novel The Turning. The film’s exhibition will be reimagined for White Night Melbourne 2014 in an extraordinary way. Each chapter will be staged in a different environment and location guided by the core themes, ideas and experiences in each story.

• Arcadian Reverie: An ensemble of international and Australian artists transform a familiar urban park with light, performance, film and sculpture.

• Moonlight Synchro: Right throughout the night teams of synchronised swimmers will showcase this exquisite sport in the Melbourne City Baths.

• Tattooed City: A commissioned exhibition celebrating Melbourne’s skin art through digital projections on the external walls of the NGV International.

• Wonderland: A highlight of the 2013 event, Wonderland returns in 2014 to transform Melbourne landmarks along Flinders Street with illuminated projections.

• Vortex: The Southbank Pedestrian Bridge will be transformed into an immersive light tunnel for audiences to walk through, sparkling and flickering, delighting and enchanting people of all ages.

Come and discover or rediscover Melbourne’s city streets, parklands, laneways, public spaces and cultural institutions, in a night like no other.