Melbourne has its share of incredible dance parties. There’s the excellent Freedom Time festival twice a year, and smaller shows in Melbourne’s diverse nightclubs. But when it comes to large, inner-city rave-ups with clever programming, we’ve been left wanting for some time. Now Novel, the touring and events company responsible for bringing some of the electronic music world’s most beloved and forward-thinking musicians to Australia, as well as promoting and booking the acts at Pitch Music and Arts Festival and Let Them Eat Cake, has a massive new space. Dubbed B3, the new party space will occupy around a third of the giant underground car park below Etihad Stadium (soon to be Marvel Stadium) for a series of 5000 plus capacity parties, that will run until 5am. The first party will be Smalltown in late September and further events are planned for December, and then in the first half of next year.

Director of Novel Daniel Teuma has been searching for a space for the last nine to 12 months, the main challenge has been finding somewhere with a late license. “Sometimes we find venues by luck, but if you’re always looking you’re going to find something unique and different. It presents challenges but that’s what’s interesting. How do you overcome those challenges to put on the best possible show?” says Teuma. Many other permanent venues with the same large capacity as B3 are restricted by licenses finishing no later than 1am.