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ONE city in Australia knows exactly how Bahrain has been feeling in recent weeks ... Melbourne.
Often the starting place for the Formula One season this year it follows in the footsteps of the kingdom and is anxiously making its final preparations for the event.
Bahraini F1 fans heading Down Under for more race action will be joining spectators, competitors and support staff from around the globe descending on Melbourne from March 25-28 for the 2010 F1 Australian Grand Prix.
"The Grand Prix has been an outstanding event for Victoria over a long period of time and has helped put Melbourne on a global stage," said MP Tim Holding, Minister for Tourism and Major Events.
"It attracts thousands of tourists from across Australia and overseas each year. Additionally, it is a wonderful four-day festival of entertainment.
"It is the support and backing of local residents and businesses that has helped make the Grand Prix in the Albert Park precinct the jewel in Melbourne's major events crown."
Melbourne is Victoria's capital city and the business, administrative, cultural and recreational hub of the state.
It is located on the traditional land of the Kulin Nation. For the Wurundjeri, Boonerwrung, Taungurong, Djajawurrung and the Wathaurung which make up the Kulin Nation, Melbourne has always been an important meeting place and location for events of social, educational, sporting and cultural significance.
Today, Melbourne is one of the great multi-cultural cities of the world, and is a significant meeting place. Its centre covers 37.6 sq km and has a residential population of around 89,759.
Each day, around 771,000 people use the city, and Melbourne hosts over a million international visitors each year.
All of these residents, workers, shoppers and travellers can take a break in one of the around 145,000 cafe or restaurant seats, or walk through some of its 567.8 hectares of parkland. They can visit Melbourne's tallest building, the 300m high Eureka Tower, or its oldest building, the Mitre Tavern, built in 1837.
The entire Melbourne metropolitan area covers 7,694 sq km and has a population of around 3.9 million.
Melbourne's population is made up of many groups of people of all ages and from many different cultures.
City residents include young professionals, international students and older couples looking to enjoy everything the city has to offer now that the kids have grown up and left home.
Melbourne is a city with endless options.
The city sweeps you up into laneways and libraries, art galleries, parks, theatres and a vibrant waterfront atmosphere.
The City of Melbourne has recently invested a further $117,000 to broaden the scope of its late-night entertainment on offer in the city.
The additional funding will enable key arts festivals to trial late-night programming to broaden the number of arts events on offer.
Festivals supported include the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the additional funding was aimed at broadening the city's artistic offering. "Melbourne is Australia's arts capital, and we are already renowned for our artistic offerings - but we never want to rest on our laurels," he said.
"Melbourne is a 24-hour city, and we want late-night entertainment that goes beyond nightclubs and bars. We believe if we broaden the scope of the city's late-night offering, a wider audience will visit.
"The additional funding is for arts events designed to attract a wider audience in to the city.
The flow-on effect is that this will help to create a safer city with more people out at night participating in activities that are not solely based on alcohol."
The City of Melbourne currently supports more than 160 programmes and spends $3.4 million on arts grants.
