It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct.

[2] A violinist who enjoyed music, Myer established free open-air concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1929, which were always well attended by Melburnians.

[2][10] Since then, international performers have included: ABBA, AC/DC, Metallica, Wings, Blondie, the Beach Boys, Crowded House, Dire Straits, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Merle Haggard, Pearl Jam, the Electric Light Orchestra, Paul McCartney, Midnight Oil, INXS, R.E.M., Kiri Te Kanawa, Daft Punk, Red Hot Chili Peppers and, in more recent times, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Soundgarden, Tool, Kanye West, Paramore, Neil Young, Lenny Kravitz, Swedish House Mafia, Blink-182, The Black Keys, Lorde, Afrojack, KSHMR, Will Sparks, Timmy Trumpet, Carnage, Axwell, The Cat Empire, Guns N' Roses and The Chainsmokers.

The venue was closed for a major renovation in 2000 to bring the facilities up to an appropriate standard, and was reopened by the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, at Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve, 2002.

There was also an informative exhibition at the St Kilda Road Foyer Gallery of the Arts Centre and a commemorative website depicting 50 years of the bowl.

[11] The bowl's canopy consists of a thin membrane made out of half an inch of weather-proofed plywood sheeted on both sides with aluminium attached to a cobwebbed frame of steel cables and supported by 21.3 metres (70 ft) masts pivoted to the earth.

The main cable at the edge of the canopy comprises 7 ropes, each about 9 cm in diameter and 173 metres (568 ft) long, anchored deep into the ground in concrete blocks.

Construction by John Holland commenced in 1958 with an innovative system of cables laced together and covered with aluminium faced plywood sandwich panels.

Construction entailed input from a number of engineering and scientific organisations including the Aeronautical Research Laboratories and CSIRO Forest Products Division.

Past major events held at The Bowl include Piknic Electronik, Music from the Home Front and Midsummer Festival.