A FORTNIGHT-long festival of tennis, food and fun will be staged between Melbourne’s CBD and its famed sporting precinct in a world first at next year’s Australian Open.

Bars, cafes, entertainment and pop-up restaurants will be installed by the Yarra River between Federation Square and Melbourne Park in an unprecedented Grand Slam offering.

The free, family-friendly, Australian Open Festival will run every day and night of the tennis tournament in January from early morning until after the end of play.

The festival, to be announced today, will give the Australian Open the biggest geographical footprint of any grand slam in the world — bigger than Wimbledon, the US or French Open.

Tennis Australia commercial director Richard Heaselgrave said the festival would push the excitement of the event closer to the CBD and offer something for everyone.

“The Australian Open is known globally as the happy slam and we want to celebrate that sentiment and make it even more accessible,” he said. Details