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What’s on in Melbourne and regional Victoria this week: 13 to 19 July 2026

MelbourningBy No Comments8 Mins Read
Bamboo Dance Festival, St Albans
  • The Melbourne Decor and Design Show is on at MCEC on 15-17 July
  • From 15 to 19 July, Aēsop’s Flinders Lane store will pause normal retail trading for the fifth annual Aēsop Queer Library, inviting visitors to browse a specially curated collection of books by LGBTQIA+ authors and take one home free of charge
  • The City of Melton Lower Power Bills Expo is on 16 July
  • The St Kilda Comedy Festival is on 16-19 July
  • The Olives to Oil Festival Westside is on in Burnside on 16 July  and will have demonstrations of olive oil pressing, tastings and sales.
  • Q-Lit – Melbourne’s LGBTQIA+ literary festival – is on from 16-19 July.
  • Running from Thursday 16 to Sunday 26 July, the Leaps and Bounds Music Festival will spread across Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Richmond, transforming pubs, bars, DIY spaces and local venues into hubs for live music, pop-ups, broadcasts, record fairs and one-off collaborations.
  • The Mildura Writers Festival is on 16-19 July
  • The Australian Sheep and Wool Show returns to the Bendigo Showgrounds from 17-19 July
  • The Melbourne Career Expo on at MCEC on 17-19 July promises to be the most comprehensive and exciting careers event in Australia.
  • The Little Food Market returns from 17-19 July, transforming the iconic Royal Exhibition Building into Melbourne’s ultimate winter escape. 
  • The inaugural National Outdoor Living & Caravan Expo is taking place at Caulfield Racecourse from July 17–19, 2026. The three-day event will feature over 150 caravan, camping, and accessory brands, daily expert demonstrations, food trucks, and free kids’ activities
  • The Melbourne Comic and Toy Fair is on at Caribbean Park in Scoresby on 18-19 July
  • The Pakistani Mango and Multicultural Food Festival is on in Springvale on 18 July
  • The 2026 Pakenham Antiques and Collectibles Fair is on 18 July
  • There’s a record fair at Bojak Brewing in Dandenong on 18 July
  • The Melbourne Taiwanese Beef Noodle Festival is on at the Brunswick Town Hall on 18 July.
  • Join in a cultural showcase exploring the rich traditions of bamboo dance across Southeast Asia at the Bamboo Dance Festival in St Albans on 18 July.
  • The Lardner Park Winter Craft and Food Market will be running on 19 July in Drouin
  • The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival returns to cinemas until 19 July.
  • Eroni’s Circus is in Wodonga until 19 July.Embrace the chill with the return of the popular Ballarat Winter Festival until 19 July.
  • Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill comes alive with stunning light projections, music, wintry treats, and a magical winter glow at Winter Wonderlights  until 19 July
  • The East Gippsland Winter Festival runs until 19 July.
  • FROSTED – A Winter Spectacular is in Narre Warren until 19 July, transforming the colder months into a glowing, family-friendly escape.  The heated big top set up opposite Westfield Fountain Gate will become a fully immersive winter wonderland designed with younger kids in mind.
  • Join over 27,000 runners for Run Melbourne – a half marathon racing through the heart of the city on fully closed roads, past iconic landmarks, and into the roar of cheering crowds on 19 July.
  • The South Morang Holistic and Psychic Expo is on 19 July.
  • The Round She Goes Market is a curated women’s secondhand and vintage market. It returns to the Coburg Town Hall on 19 July
  • The Frankston Psychic and Wellbeing Expo is on 19 July.
  • Rug up and head to Dandenong Market this winter as Winter Feast returns for a spectacular day of skating, seasonal flavours and feel‑good vibes on Sunday 19 July.
  • Iconic Brunswick Street café Mario’s is marking four decades in Melbourne with a major new exhibition bringing together 40 of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. Running until 20 July, 40 Artists – 40 Years will transform the walls of Marios into a multi generational survey of the artists who have shaped, challenged and passed through the venue since it first began hosting exhibitions in 1988.
  • In Bloom tells the story of a garden coming alive after sunset — a hidden nocturnal world where native flora, pollinators and natural ecosystems glow with colour, movement and life. Inspired by the beauty and biodiversity of Geelong Botanic Gardens, guests’ journey through immersive environments influenced by blooming landscapes, native wildflowers, shifting seasons and creatures such as the iconic Blue Banded Bee. See it until 26 July.
  • After drawing almost 140,000 visitors in Brisbane and Perth, BODY WORLDS: The Anatomy of Happiness is heading to Melbourne for a limited season at The District Docklands until 29 July. Created by Dr. Gunther von Hagens, the inventor of plastination, and curated by physician and designer Dr. Angelina Whalley, the exhibition explores the human body through the lens of emotion, health and wellbeing.
  • Running every Wednesday until 29 July, Queen Victoria Market’s Christmas in July series will swap traditional winter vibes for a full festive makeover, complete with giant walk-in snow globes, live ice sculpting, sparkling decorations and roaming Christmas-themed performers.
  • A landmark international fashion exhibition is heading to Melbourne’s south east, with The Offbeat Sari set to make its Australian debut at Bunjil Place Gallery until early August. Developed by London’s Design Museum and conceived and curated by Priya Khanchandani, the exhibition brings together 54 groundbreaking saris loaned from leading designers and studios across India.
  • Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Eucalypts of Hodogaya at the Shrine explores the remarkable collaboration that created the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Yokohama where more than 1,500 Commonwealth soldiers, including Australians, are buried in a garden blending Western and Japanese traditions. It runs until August 2026.
  • The Linden New Art Postcard Show running until 1 August is a winter classic in St Kilda. Now in its 36th year, the exhibition brings together up to 1,000 postcard sized artworks by artists from across Australia.
  • Lightscape – Melbourne’s favourite winter tradition is returning to Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne until 2 August. Expect brand-new large-scale installations by leading Australian and international artists, trail-side treats and a mesmerising world of colour, music and light beneath the night sky.
  • Running until 2 August at Palace Cinemas the Nordic Film Festival will showcase new films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including award winners, festival favourites and highly anticipated releases from some of the region’s most celebrated filmmakers.
  • The Noojee and Neerim Truffle Festival until 2 Augustwill celebrate West Gippsland’s French black truffles and the region’s growing reputation for cool-climate produce.
  • Shane Warne’s legacy will take centre stage at a major exhibition presented by the Melbourne Cricket Club of the late cricket icon’s most prized personal items at the Australian Sports Museum until 9 August 2026. WARNE: Treasures of a Legend will feature 48 pieces from his career, offering rare access to objects that shaped one of Australia’s most celebrated  sporting stories.
  • Melbourne’s iconic Winter Night Market is making its return to Queen Victoria Market this winter, bringing fire pits, street food, live music and late-night shopping back to the city every Wednesday night until 26 August.
  • Melbourne is getting a deep dive into vinyl, sound and music culture, with RISING and ACMI unveiling The Vinyl Factory: Reverb, at ACMI. Running throughout this year’s RISING event and extended until 31 August, the large scale exhibition explores how vinyl and music have shaped art, fashion, film and social movements.
  • Melbourne’s winter nights are set to sparkle as National Gallery of Victoria unveils the return of NGV Friday Nights alongside the highly anticipated 2026 Melbourne Winter Masterpieces: CARTIER exhibition. Running every Friday until 2 October at NGV International, the after-hours series will combine late-night exhibition access with live music, film screenings, French-inspired food and immersive performances inspired by the world of Cartier.
  • A dazzling world-exclusive Cartier exhibition will run at the National Gallery of Victoria until 4 October featuring more than 300 jewels, tiaras, necklaces, brooches, timepieces and design drawings, making the exhibition the largest presentation of the legendary jewellery house ever staged in Australia.
  • In a landmark moment for its 130th year, Geelong Gallery, in partnership with Art Exhibitions Australia and ACPA Advising Curating Producing Art, is proud to present Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel, Art Dealer Among the Artists, the most ambitious international exhibition in the Gallery’s history, running until 11 October.
  • Melbourne Museum will open ROME: Empire, Power, People until Sunday 25 October 2026.The Melbourne-exclusive exhibition will bring more than 150 objects from two of Italy’s leading  museums to Australia for the first time, offering an in-depth look at the rise and rule of one of history’s most influential civilisations.
  • A thought-provoking new exhibition EMERGENCE[Y] at Science Gallery Melbournebrings together artists, researchers, and designers to examine how humanity might adapt to a rapidly changing planet until 5 December 2026.
  • Colour at Scienceworks in Spotswood is a vibrant, hands-on exhibition exploring the surprising science behind how we see the world, running until 26 January 2027.
  • Home is Football: Belonging in Australian Soccer at the Immigration Museum until 27 January 2027 explores how the world game has shaped identity, migration and community across Australia. Featuring stories from Ange Postecoglou, Lydia Williams and grassroots players, the exhibition celebrates football’s power to connect people both on and off the pitch.
  • World of the Book returns until 17 May 2027 – State Library Victoria’s largest ever tribute to women writers, alongside hundreds of extraordinary Australian and international works from the State Collection. Now in its 21st year, this beloved exhibition brings together more than 400 rare, remarkable and historically significant items from c. 2000 BCE to today, many on public display for the first time.
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