- La Mama Theatre is launching the inaugural HOPE PUNK Climate Festival, a three-week celebration of independent performance, conversation and creativity centred on climate action from 1-20 September.
- There’s free pilates at the Queen Victoria Market every Thursday morning throughout September.
- The Wyndham Learning Festival from 1-7 September is a week-long celebration of learning, not just a single day! It features a range of free events, hosted by community, businesses, and individuals, that promote lifelong learning and personal growth.
- A major new cultural gathering is set to transform Melbourne’s south-east, with Kindred People Festival bringing together First Nations artists, Elders and global voices across five days from 1 to 5 September 2026.
- Chadstone and Holmesglen Institute are hosting a Careers Expo to promote employment opportunities at Chadstone on 2 September.
- The South Gippsland Dairy and Farming Expo is on in Korumburra from 2-3 September.
- Running from 3 to 6 September 2026, the four-day Blak & Bright Writers Festival will bring together some of the country’s most influential First Nations voices, creating a space for audiences to explore the power, complexity and diversity of First Nations storytelling.
- Celebrate youth culture at the Stonnington youth services Video Game Festival in Prahran on 4 September.
- The Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival is on 4-13 September.
- The Grampians BBQ Festival is on 4-6 September.
- The Mildura Zine and Art Fair is on 5 September.
- The Sunraysia Multicultural Festival is on in Mildura on 5 September.
- Warrnambool Nepalese Community Inc. is hosting the Teej Festival on 5 September.
- The Mildura Gem and Jewellery Expo is on in Irymple on 5-6 September.
- Fire & Forge Festival is a new Father’s Day weekend event at Kryal Castle in Ballarat on 5-6 September, created to celebrate the traditions, skills and experiences that are passed from one generation to the next.
- The Geelong Record Fair is on 5 September.
- Sketch and Scribe Fest is the fun festival that connects you with children’s publishers. Designed for children’s writers and illustrators of all levels – beginner scribblers to published authors/illustrators – wanting to connect and learn from publishers and award-winning experts. Its on at Jan Juc from 5 September to 17 October.
- Still moves: Australian and international animation is on at the Bayside Gallery at Brighton Town Hall from 5 September to 25 October, celebrating hand-made animation by artists considered leaders in the field.
- From 5 – 13 September, Darebin FUSE Festival will light up the municipality with a stacked multi-arts program of live performances, interactive workshops, family activities, cultural experiences and more, with something for all ages
- Shepparton Art Museum is the only Victorian venue to host Australia’s most celebrated portrait prize, the Archibald Prize, in 2026. You can see it between 5 September to 1 November.
- The RESET Festival at Fed Square from 5 September to 17 October is a free, family-friendly festival about slowing down, finding joy in the hands-on – and discovering creative ways to live more sustainably
- Melbourne Brick Show returns for 2026 on 5-6 September at Coburg Town Hall – a LEGO show of incredible displays, interactive builds, and hands-on activities showcasing creativity and all the possibilities of the LEGO brick.
- The Greatest Travel Show is on at the Pullman East Melbourne on 5-6 September.
- Join in a a free afternoon and evening of jumping jazz in 19 different Fitzroy Street venues at Fusion on Fitzroy Street in St Kilda on 5 September.
- Showcars Melbourne and Acland St Traders Association will host and celebrate the 13th year of the Father’s Day Cars, Bikes & Culture Show in St Kilda on 6 September.
- Celebrate Father’s Day at Rippon Lea Estate on 6 September with a boutique showcase of classic cars from the Super ’70s.
- Melbourne is getting into the NFL spirit on 6 September with a huge cheerleading challenge at Fed Square, where hundreds of dancers, families and sports fans will attempt to break the world record for the largest cheerleading dance.
- The Father’s Day Car and Bike Show is on at Old Gippstown in Moe on 6 September.
- The Ballarat Fishing Festival is on at Lake Wendouree on 6 September.
- After a hiatus of more than 30 years the Geelong Folk Music Club are pleased to announce that Geelong will once again host a Folk Festival at the Geelong West Town Hall on Sunday 6 September.
- The Dean Kite Festival is on 6 September
- 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.
- Silvers Circus will be in Sunbury until 13 September.
- The Circus Royale is at Taylors Lakes until 13 September.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Plant Life: The Nature of Design explores how plant-based materials could offer alternatives to plastics, synthetic products and other non-renewable materials, bringing together more than 60 works from Australian and international designers at NGV until 7 February 2027.
- 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: 31 August to 6 September 2026
By Melbourning
