Never had the chance to stumble past Rome’s Colosseum after one too many grappas, or dance down the streets of Venice’s Carnevale? Well, if you can make it to Docklands on November 12th, you’ll get a taste of what you’ve been missing.

The Smirnoff Nightlight Exchange Project is an international swap of nightlife experiences, and for us Melbournians, we get to trade our late-night culture with Italy (hey, it could have been Kazakhstan). It’s all part of a unique global experience that involves countries doing paired swaps of local musicians – because the merit of any nation is its ability to party till the sun comes up, isn’t it?

During the evening you can frolic in the fake snow at the Torino Alps Bar, sip on luxury cocktails in the Milano room or nosh on Roman style pizzas in the piazza forecourt, which is plenty of incentive to schlep over to Docklands. And if the drinks and atmosphere make you want to start that hip sway (hopefully more sashay than wobble), then move them to headliner Italiano acts like acid house and techno DJs, Junior Jack & Kid Créme, and Alex Gaudino – whose Destination Unknown with singer Cristal Waters reached #3 on the Australian music charts – plus Aussie DJ Anna Lunoe (pictured).

As for our Italian sister city of Turin, it will be gifted an Australian beach party for 3000 people, complete with palm trees and deck chairs, with Aussie exports Nervo and Bang Gang Deejays spinning discs within a purpose-built lifeguard station. Road trip, anyone?

Beyond our Aussie-Italo swap, the global event ropes in some 50 countries. This year, sister-city nightlife swaps include Brazil and Bulgaria; Chile and China; Ghana and Great Britain; Venezuela and Vietnam; and Nigeria and New York – the latter of which Madonna herself will attend to help handpick the overall global winner of the Nightlife Exchange’s dance competition. Ten finalists will fly to The Big Apple to dance for Her Madgesty, with the winner being chosen to join her troupe of backing dancers.

So if you’ve got the moves, shake a leg. The rest of us, of course, will merely practice our ability to get legless. Cin cin.

What: Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project
When: 12 Nov
Where: Peninsula, Harbourside, Docklands
Details: Facebook

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