- Melbourne photographers can sharpen their skills, try out the latest cameras and even score a free professional headshot, with Camera House Melbourne CBD marking its first birthday with a week-long celebration of photography. Running from 24 to 31 August, the Elizabeth Street store is hosting a program of free and low-cost events, including guided photo walks, live-model portrait sessions, camera demonstrations and hands-on workshops featuring Fujifilm, Canon, LUMIX, Sony, Nikon and OM SYSTEM.
- Silvers Circus will be in Sunbury from 27 August to 13 September.
- The Affordable Art Fair returns to the Royal Exhibition Building for its sixth edition from 27-30 August.
- Collins Square’s Fathers Day Market is on 27 August.
- Step back into the golden era of cinema at Footscray Flix, a retro celebration inspired by Footscray’s historic cinema precinct on 27-30 August.
- The Careers in Healthcare Expo is a free event in Ivanhoe on 27 August exploring the many career opportunities available across Australia’s growing healthcare sector.
- Winter Sounds is returning to Daylesford and surrounds from 27 to 30 August for a weekend of live music, heritage venues and country charm.
- The Gippsland Caravan Camping Liesure Roadshow is on at Lardner Park on 28-30 August
- The Heathcote Film Festival is on 28-29 August.
- The Dunkeld Writers Festival is on 28-30 August.
- The Victorian Orchid Spectacular is on in Skye from 28-30 August.
- Greater Shepparton City Council is bringing the Winter City Market back to the Shepparton CBD for two days of shopping, entertainment and family fun on Friday 28 August and Saturday 29 August 2026.
- Welcome to Thornbury’s 7th annual Chicken Nugget Festival is on 29 August.
- BoardCon 2026 is a one-day large board game convention on Saturday 29 August 2026 at Mulgrave Community Centre.
- The Prahran Square Record Fair is on 29 August.
- Take a magical nighttime journey through the culture and history of Thomastown at Walking Thomastown on 29 August.
- Torrens University’s Melbourne open day is on 29 August.
- Animaga returns to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 29-30 August, 2026, bringing a weekend full of anime, fandom, and pure excitement.
- Wyrd Realms is an all-ages fantasy roleplay celebration at Box Hill Town Hall on 29 August
- The Frankston and Peninsula Lapidary Club’s 2026 Gem Show is on on Mornington on 29-30 August.
- This year the Whittlesea Fire Brigade is celebrating 100 years of service to the community with a torchlight march on 29 August.
- Discover contemporary Japanese floral art at the Melbourne Ikebana Festival, featuring leading ikebana artists from Australia, Japan, Vietnam and beyond at Abbotsford Convent from 29-30 August.
- Celebrate International Dog Day at Rippon Lea with your furry four-legged family members on 29 August.
- Tantalise your tastebuds and head to Como House and Garden in South Yarra on 29 August where the Country Women’s Association Ashburton Branch will be selling a fabulous selection of baked goods, jams, and preserves
- The Ballarat Spring Pre-loved Fashion Market is on 29 August.
- The Bendigo Holistic and Psychic Expo is on 30 August.
- The Yarra Valley Record Fair is on in Warburton on 30 August.
- The Hurstbridge Wattle Festival is on 30 August.
- The Witches Wardrobe Flea Market is on at Welcome To Thornbury on 30 August.
- Featuring hundreds of vendors and exhibitors, Card Fest brings together Australia’s top retail card stores, collectors, buyers and sellers under one roof for a full day of high-quality, premium product access and industry networking in Reservoir on 30 August.
- The Maling Road Auto Classico is returning to Canterbury on Sunday 30 August.
- The Brighton Beach Marathon is on 30 August.
- The Camberwell Sunday Market will celebrate its 50th birthday on 30 August. This special event will include live music, an live broadcast from community radio station 3PBS show, BlueJuice, as well as speakers and special guests.
- The Berwick Springs Hotel is hosting a free family fun day on 30 August.
- Now or Never, the city’s festival of art, ideas, sound and technology, is bringing more than 150 events to venues and public spaces across the CBD until 30 August 2026.
- Ballarat is once again rolling out the pastry mat for a full month of flaky indulgence. Back for its fourth year, with Ballarat’s Best Pie running until 31 August where you can take your pick from 30 savoury and sweet pies at some of the city’s top cafes, restaurants, bakeries and pubs.
- Until 31 August 2026, the Catchment to Coast exhibition will be on display at Cardinia Cultural Centre, exploring the flow on effect of water across the shire.
- 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 9 September.
- The Art Gallery of Ballarat is set to host the globally renowned World Press Photo exhibition for the first time until 20 September at the historic Ballarat Mining Exchange, the exhibition marks the first time Victorians have been able to experience the showcase locally in more than 10 years.
- 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.
- 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 4 October, the large scale exhibition explores how vinyl and music have shaped art, fashion, film and social movements.
- 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.
- 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 March 2027/. 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.
- 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.
- What if the things we remember most aren’t necessarily the things we expect to find in a history book? That is the idea behind You Have a New Memory, a fascinating exhibition at State Library Victoria that digs into the ways we preserve the stories, objects and everyday moments that make up our collective memory open daily until 27 June 2027.
What’s on in Melbourne and regional Victoria this week: 24-30 August 2026
By Melbourning
Affordable Art Fair
