(CNN)Ants and champagne designed to be consumed in space.
That's what celebrities and other VIPs will eat and drink inside the Melbourne Cup's enclave of style and glamor -- the Birdcage enclosure.
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Melbourne Cup Birdcage: Where VIPs eat ants and drink space champagne
Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
The Birdcage at the Melbourne Cup is the epicenter of style and glamor -- and the place to be seen if you're a celebrity or VIP.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
Within the enclosure sponsors host bespoke lavish marquees which feature everything from purple martinis, decadent floral displays, entertainment routines and plenty of designer outfits.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
The $7.3 million cup began in 1861 and has evolved into a week-long festival -- where horse racing isn't its only focus, but also fashion, entertainment and hospitality.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
Maison Mumm has centered its marquee around the launch of its champagne bottle which has been designed for space travel.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
Mumm's marquee will also feature "high energy visual performances" by its Space Odyssey Orchestra.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
Black ants will be served for desert at the Lexus Design Pavilion. In Ben Shewry's dish, the New Zealand chef serves up an ice-cream lamington, which is coated in black Australian ants and coconut with chocolate grown and hand made in Queensland's Daintree Forest.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
Shiitake and wattle seed truffle by Australian chef, Shaun Quade, will be served as dessert in the Lexus Design Pavilion.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
Quade will be serving food on level three of the pavilion -- which can cater up at 76 people. It is the largest ever dining room within the Birdcage enclosure -- and has the most coveted view, overlooking Flemington's racecourse.
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Photos: The place to be if you're a VIP at the Melbourne Cup
During the week, Melbourne Cup's Carnival features four days of thoroughbred racing, which includes Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Oaks Day and Stakes Day.
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