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What’s On This Weekend in Melbourne: Our Melbourne Editor’s Top Picks
Looking for things to do in Melbourne this weekend? I've got you covered.
Melbourne has a remarkable talent for making a two-day weekend feel wildly insufficient. We’ve been known to get things moving on a Thursday, honestly. One knock-off drink becomes dinner, dinner becomes a nightcap, and Friday arrives with a slightly larger coffee order. By Saturday, there’s a long lunch that’s turned into dinner, a bar nobody planned on visiting and a Sunday brunch booking made after midnight. Suddenly it’s Sunday evening, your bank account’s looking nervous and the laundry hasn’t seen you since Wednesday. Would we do it all again? Absolutely.
Let’s just say, we’re very good at making plans. Even better at finding reasons to abandon them for something more interesting. Every week, our Melbourne Editor rounds up the best things happening across the city, from excellent things to eat and drink to exhibitions, markets and events worth rearranging your diary for.
Forty-eight hours. A city with other ideas. Here’s where we’d be spending ours.
Tixel is Giving Away a Double Pass to BTV…
Missed out on Beyond The Valley tickets? This might be your chance to score some! This Thursday 22nd, ticket resale platform Tixel is popping up outside the State Library to give away double passes to BTV and Spilt Milk Geelong, plus plenty more prizes.
The catch? Fans have to make it ten steps across Velcro flooring while strapped to a bungee cord, with an industrial fan blasting against them. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, when there are Tixel credits up for grabs that could score you tickets to Harry Styles, we’d say it’s worth a shot!
Where: Outside State Library Victoria, Swanston Street, Melbourne
When: Thursday 22nd October from 6:30am, until prizes run out
Cost : Free to enter
Best For: Music lovers
Need To Know : They’re also giving away tickets to a gig of your choice at the Corner Hotel or Northcote Social Club, as well as Tixel credits to upcoming shows such as Harry Styles and Calvin Harris!
Catch a Free Runway at Melbourne Fashion Week
A front-row seat might be harder to come by, but Melbourne’s best-dressed are taking the fashion show to the streets this Saturday. Melbourne Fashion Week is transforming the newly reopened City Square into an open-air runway, with three free shows and a wardrobe’s worth of local talent.
First up is Street Style at 2pm, featuring Clothing The Gaps, Kuwaii, Gorman and more. After Hours follows at 4pm, showcasing the city’s evening wardrobe, before the Australian Open takes over at 6pm with a first look at its AO27 collections alongside New Balance. The seated tickets have disappeared, naturally, but there’s still standing room.
Sitchu Tip: Wear something good. You never know who’s watching.
Where: City Square, corner Collins and Swanston Streets, Melbourne
When: Saturday 24th October, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm
Cost: Free
Best For: Fashion lovers and people-watchers
Need To Know: Seated allocations have sold out, but limited free standing room is available. Arrive early to secure a good view.
Have Dinner With a London Chef in Carlton
Some dinner invitations deserve an immediate yes. This Saturday, London chef Punam Vaja is bringing her celebrated Khao Suppers to Carlton for Chalo Jamva, a one-night Gujarati feast at Fenton Farmhouse.
Inspired by the food she grew up eating, Vaja’s four-course vegetarian menu celebrates the rustic cooking of Kathiyawad, with fragrant masalas, bright pickles, gentle heat and beautiful Australian spring produce. It’s a delicious departure from the Indian dishes Melbourne diners may know best, with recipes shaped by family, childhood and generations of home cooking.
A little London supper-club magic, a Rathdowne Street address and a table full of people who love good food. Saturday night is looking very promising.
Where: Fenton Farmhouse, 158 Rathdowne Street, Carlton
When: Saturday 24th October, evening seatings
Cost: Ticketed, see booking page for pricing
Best For: Adventurous eaters, food lovers and date night
Need To Know: The four-course menu is vegetarian, with vegan adaptations available. The organiser advertises 6pm and 8pm seatings, while the event listing shows a 6.30pm start, so confirm your sitting when booking.
Party in an Overgrown Garden at 1 Hotel Melbourne
Melbourne Fashion Week, but make it a little wicked. This Saturday, 1 Hotel Melbourne is throwing open the doors to Crane Bar & Lounge for Bloom After Dark, a free, one-night party filled with wild florals, candlelight, excellent cocktails and a deliciously dark dress code.
Curated by Chris Kontos, the evening begins with Edd Fisher on the decks before Client Liaison’s Harvey Miller takes over from 7pm. There’s a complimentary round of house drinks at 7pm, Cocobutterjpg playing through to midnight and the Yarra glimmering beyond the terrace.
The dress code? Haunted elegance. Velvet, dark florals, sharp tailoring. Finally, an excuse to get a little dramatic.
Where: Crane Bar & Lounge, 1 Hotel Melbourne, 9 Maritime Place, Docklands
When: Saturday 24th October, 5pm until midnight
Cost: Free
Best For: Fashion Week drinks, excellent DJs and a very good night out
Need To Know: Book online via the hotel. Harvey Miller plays from 7pm to 10pm, with a complimentary round of house beverages scheduled for 7pm.
Shop Rare Designer Fashion Straight From Tokyo
If your wardrobe could tell stories, wouldn’t you rather they involved Tokyo, a little Parisian fashion history and a very good vintage find? This weekend, two Tokyo-based archive stores, Seldom and CVBIN, are joining Melbourne’s Salon Archive for a four-day designer pop-up inside the beautiful Nicholas Building.
Coinciding with Melbourne Fashion Week, the collaboration offers a curated collection of archival fashion sourced across Japan and Europe, with rare vintage pieces and the possibility of finding something no one else at dinner will be wearing. Take the lift to level six, have a very thorough browse and prepare to become emotionally attached to a garment you hadn’t planned on buying. Sorry, not sorry.
Where: Salon Archive, Level 6, Suite 14, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne
When: Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th October, 12pmâ6pm Thursday to Saturday, 12pmâ5pm Sunday
Cost: Free entry; purchases priced individually
Best For: Vintage enthusiasts, fashion collectors and excellent personal style
Need To Know: No bookings required. The pop-up closes Sunday, so this is your only weekend to browse the visiting Tokyo collections.
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Spend an Afternoon Among Melbourne’s Best Art Books
Art books, independent magazines, beautiful photography and an entirely reasonable excuse to buy another coffee-table book. The fourth edition of Same Page Art Book Fair arrives at Gertrude Contemporary this weekend, bringing together an excellent collection of independent publishers and creative minds from Melbourne and abroad.
Presented by Perimeter Books and Gertrude, the free two-day fair features everything from artist editions and experimental publications to zines, photography books and thoughtful little printed treasures. Among the exhibitors are Stray Pages, Discipline, Perimeter and publishing houses from as far afield as Japan and Singapore. There’s even a lively programme of artist talks, book launches, workshops and performances.
Where: Gertrude Contemporary, 21â31 High Street, Preston
When: Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th October, 11amâ5pm
Cost: Free entry; selected workshops $12
Best For: Design lovers, book collectors and creative souls
Need To Know: Panels, talks and book signings are free with no bookings required. Some limited-capacity workshops require advance reservations.
Explore Contemporary Sculpture Inside a Brighton Mansion
A heritage mansion, beautiful gardens and twenty contemporary artists doing extraordinary things with sculpture. If your dream weekend involves a little art, a little architecture and somewhere lovely to wander, make your way to Brighton. This is the final weekend of Melbourne Sculpture Biennale, where the exhibition Soft Systems has taken over Billilla Mansion. Featuring works by Mikala Dwyer, Hannah Gartside, Kait James and Paul Yore, the exhibition explores the invisible structures that shape our lives through installations that respond to the mansion’s historic rooms and grounds.
It’s fascinating, free and housed in a building you may never have had the chance to explore. Follow it with lunch somewhere by the bay. That’s a Sunday well spent.
Where: Billilla Mansion, 26 Halifax Street, Brighton
When: Until Sunday 25th October, 11amâ5pm
Cost: Free
Best For: Art lovers, architecture enthusiasts and a slower Sunday
Need To Know: This is the exhibition’s closing weekend. Entry is free, and Middle Brighton Station is approximately a ten-minute walk away.
Take Your Book to the Bar for a Sunday Reading Party
Finally, a Sunday session where ignoring everyone to read your book is actively encouraged. Book Doof returns to Section 8 this weekend, transforming the much-loved laneway bar and its neighbour, Aster, into one big, rather sociable reading room. The concept is simple: bring your current read, order something nice, settle into a spot and spend the afternoon with a book and an ambient soundtrack. Drawing, journalling and painting are equally welcome, and there’s absolutely no obligation to make conversation.
There are cocktails if you fancy one, plenty of fellow bookworms and, best of all, nobody asking what you’re doing with your Sunday. Amen.
Where: Section 8 and Aster, 27â29 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne
When: Sunday 25th October, 12pmâ5pm
Cost: Free, with pay-as-you-feel donations encouraged
Best For: Book lovers, solo dates and introverts who occasionally enjoy company
Need To Know: Walk-ins only, with donations requested at the door. Bring your own book, journal or sketchbook.
And there we have it. Seven excellent reasons to leave the house, several opportunities to spend money you didn’t intend to and at least one very good story for Monday morning. See you out there. We’ll be the ones who said we were heading home an hour ago. Now you know what’s on this weekend in Melbourne, it’s time to start planning it out, hour by hour. Or, perhaps you’re heading out of town? We’ve got you covered there, too! Check out our guide to the best travel destinations in Victoria, or discover the most romantic stays.
