- Bring your picnic rugs, kids and the family pooch to Picnic and Play at Burwood Brickworks! Every Saturday from 3 pm – 6 pm, the Urban Plaza will be buzzing with free kids’ entertainment, hands-on crafts, roving performers and live music.
- The Quang Minh Tet Festival is a unique annual event held on the site of the Quang Minh Buddhist Temple in Braybrook. In 2026 it will run from 16-17 February.
- Join the Queen Victoria Market in welcoming the Year of the Horse with festive traditions, vibrant displays, and cultural experiences on 17 February.
- The Victorian Camping and Caravan Supershow is back for 2026 at the Melbourne Showgrounds from 18-22 February.
- Heading into its 19th edition as a cultural staple of the city, Melbourne Art Fair from 19-22 February brings together galleries and Indigenous art centres; artists and designers; the culturally curious and devoted.
- CraftAlive is on at the Wodonga Exhibition Centre from 19-21 February.
- Eroni’s Circus is in Grantville from 20-22 February.
- Celebrate Lunar New Year at the Queen Victoria Market on Friday 20 February.
- Experience the Ramadan Night Market at Queen Victoria Market on 20-21 February.
- Australia’s largest baby expo is on at MCEC on 21-22 February.
- Melbourne’s Afro-Caribbean festival returns on 21 February and it’s set to be a massive day of free fun. See Fed Square transformed into a pumping party with legendary DJs and local sound systems. Join in the dancing. Then feast on carnival food like jerk chicken and fiery BBQ.
- The Darebin Volunteer Expo is on in Preston on 21 February.
- There’s a Record Fair at Moon Dog Wild West in Footscray on 21 February.
- The Berwick Show is on 21-22 February.
- Celebrate the Year of the Horse with a lively family day at Melbourne Museum on 21 February. Enjoy a joyful visit from the God of Fortune, stunning ribbon fan and sword dances with live guzheng music, and the high-energy dragon and lion dance performance by the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne.
- The annual Box Hill Chinese New Year Festival is happening on 21 February.
- The Bunyip Rodeo is on 21 February.
- The Echuca Pro Rodeo is on 21 February.
- Celebrate the Year of the Horse in a weekend-long celebration of music, lion parades, food, and culture at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat on 21-22 February.
- The Heyfield Timber Festival is on 21 February.
- The Smart Living Expo 2026 in Buninyong on 22 February is a free, family‑friendly sustainability event showcasing practical ways to live more efficiently and reduce environmental impact.
- There’s a preloved fashion pop-up market at the Bendigo Exhibition centre on 22 February.
- The Holistic and Psychic Expo is on in Shepparton on 22 February.
- One of the City of Yarra’s much-loved cultural events, the Johnston Street Fiesta welcomes you back to celebrate Hispanic and Latin American culture in the heart of Fitzroy on Saturday 21and Sunday 22 February.
- Head to Chinatown for a day-long celebration, catch live performances on the main stage and look out for roaming lion dancers at the Melbourne Chinese Lunar New Year Festival on 22 February.
- Cragieburn’s 10th annual Car, Truck and Bike Show is on 22 February .
- Join the National Trust for a joyful day of family fun as the Teddy Bears’ Picnicreturns to Rippon Lea Estate on 22 February. Pack your picnic, round up the kids and grandkids, and bring along your favourite teddy or soft toy for this much-loved community event.
- Honour the contribution of war animals who have given their loyalty and their lives at the Shrine’s War Animal Day Last Post Service on 22 February.
- Dandenong Market will burst into colour, sound and flavour this February as itsLunar New Year Festival returns for one big day of food, culture and celebration on 22 February.
- Fairfield Village is holding its rescheduled Family Fun Day on 22 February.
- The Chants Summer Carnival is on at Fountain Gate Narre Warren until 22 February.
- Silver’s Circus is at Bacchus Marsh until 22 February.
- The Koorie Art Show at Koorie Heritage Trust runs til 22 February and is dedicated to showcasing the work of Koorie and Victorian-based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists through a statewide call for entries.
- A psychedelic wave of music history is set to wash over Lilydale as Enjoy This Trip: The Art of Music Posters arrives at Yarra Ranges Regional Museum until 22 February. Drawn from the National Gallery of Australia’s remarkable collection of Australian and international posters, the exhibition brings the bold colour, electric energy and boundary-pushing creativity of the 1960s to 1980s into sharp focus.
- The Melbourne Fashion Festival is Australia’s largest major fashion event and runs until 28 February 2026
- A classic story is coming to life along the Murray River, with Wonderland on the Murray now running across Echuca Moama as a large-scale Alice in Wonderland sand sculpture trail. Open until 9 March 2026, the free event transforms public spaces throughout the twin towns into a family-friendly adventure, featuring handcrafted sand installations created by Sandstorm Events.
- Melbourne’s original and longest-running night market is back, as the Queen Victoria Market prepares to celebrate 25 years of summer evenings filled with sizzling street food, live music and twilight shopping. The Summer Night Market runs weekly until 11 March 2026.
- Skybox is a powerful, new and immersive video installation created by artist Rel Pham especially for ArtSpace at Realm in Ringwood until 15 March examining what it means to observe and exist in a deluge of data.
- Camouflage is an exhibition running at The Shrine until March 2026. See how nature has inspired military disguise—from animal patterns to clever tricks of deception. Explore real camouflage uniforms, historical objects, and rotating artworks by well-known artists. Follow the evolution of camouflage from the First World War to today and learn how it reflects changing military strategies, culture, and creativity.
- Melbourne’s much-loved Moonlight Cinema will mark its 30th birthday this summer with a program shaped entirely by audiences at the Royal Botanic Gardens until Sunday 5 April 2026.
- The National Gallery of Victoria’ its’s summer blockbuster event – Westwood | Kawakubo – is a world-exclusive exhibition celebrating two of fashion’s most revolutionary designers. Running until 19 April 2026, the exhibition spotlights the boundary-pushing work of Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo across five decades of radical design.
- The Blue Lotus Water Garden at Yarra Junction is one of Australia’s most spectacular seasonal gardens open to the public until 19 April 2026. The tropically themed water garden covers 14 acres featuring millions of beautiful lotus, waterlily and other flowers, stunning lakes, amazing vistas and wonderful facilities
- Melbourne will host the first Asia-Pacific edition of the award-winning Formula 1 Exhibition, offering fans an immersive journey through the sport’s past, present and future. Running until 19 April 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the exhibition arrives just ahead of the F1 season opener at Albert Park.
- London’s Victoria and Albert Museum’s acclaimed exhibition DIVA makes its Australian debut at the new Australian Museum of Performing Arts until 26 April 2026. It is spectacular showcase of more than 250 objects, including 60 show stopping costumes, jewellery, photography, art and music and explores explores the evolution of the term “diva” — from 19th-century opera stars to today’s global pop icons.
- The ever-popular Skyline Ferris Wheel makes its return in St Kilda until 26 April. Take in the breath-taking views of the St Kilda foreshore and pier with unparalleled views!
- Visit Hanging Rock Winery to experience the Art in the Vines Sculpture Exhibition until 30 April 2026 and wander a trail of discovery, glass-in-hand, through this extraordinary exhibition of contemporary outdoor sculpture.
- Running until May 2026 at the Shrine of Remembrance, the Her Story exhibition shines a light on the experiences of female Victorian veterans. Created by photographer Carla Edwards, the exhibition combines portraits and interviews that explore the lives of women who served across generations.
- The National Gallery of Victoria will be transformed into a kaleidoscope of colour, creativity and movement with Let’s Party! Fashion for Kids: Designed by Danielle Brustman, a free interactive exhibition opening at NGV International from until 3 May 2026.
- The world-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, now in its sixty-first year and on loan from the Natural History Museum in London, is at the National Wool Museum in Geelong until 17 May, featuring some of the most exceptional nature photography taken today from across the globe.
- Melbourne’s love affair with gaming is set to reach new heights at ACMI with Game Worlds – a massive interactive exhibition that plunges visitors into 30 iconic videogame universes, with 20 fully playable experiences. Running until 3 July 2026, this deep dive into gaming culture promises to be a must-see for casual players and hardcore fans alike.
- 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.
- 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.
What’s on in Melbourne and regional Victoria this week: 16-22 February 2026
By Melbourning
