At 1pm today the nine-day St Kilda Festival will kick off a nine-day extravaganza of music, movies, art and culture.

The opening cultural event, recognising the traditional owners of the land, is Yalukit Wilum Ngargee: People Place Gathering in O’Donnell Gardens. The festival is now in its 34th year.

Crowds at a past St Kilda Festival (Image: The Sydney Morning Herald)

Over the next nine days, the festival will bring the beachside suburb to life across fifty venues. Events as diverse as Soul Safari at the iconic Espy hotel on Thursday night, to a beach volleyball championship on Friday evening, and an open day at the Christ Church Anglican Church next Sunday morning, will entertain up to 400,000 across the week.

Archie Roach performs at the 2008 St Kilda Festival (Image: The Age)

The festival will run to a limited schedule between Monday and Thursday, but will culminate in the traditional festival Sunday with its signature free live music. Over fifty artists will perform across eight stages, while numerous visual arts, cultural, dance, sport and family attractions will continue around the suburb.

Melbourne will be abuzz this weekend with the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Footscray today, the Latin Summer Festival at Birrarung Marr today and tomorrow and the Japanese Festival in Federation Square on Sunday. Add to this the continuing Chinese New Year celebrations, and it looks like one very busy weekend ahead!

For more information about events or about road closures in St Kilda this week, or to buy tickets to reserved events, go to the St Kilda Festival website.