- From the Gold Rush era to the Satellite City, the City of Melton has a rich history that’s ripe for rediscovery. Explore the best of its stories at the Heritage Festival until 9 May with exciting lineup of free activities, workshops, and more.
- The Melbourne Writers Festival will return from 7-10 May 2026.
- The Bourne Local Mothers Day Market is on at Collins Square on 7 May
- To celebrate legendary natural historian, broadcaster and environmental advocate David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, enjoy a free screening of his 2025 documentary Ocean on the Big Screen at Fed Square on 7 May.
- Frankston is gearing up for a packed program of creativity and connection as South Side Festival returns from Friday 8 May to Sunday 17 May, bringing ten nights of events across different venues.
- The 20th Indonesian Film Festival is on 8-10 May at ACMI.
- Healesville Festival returns on 9-10 May for a vibrant two-day celebration of culture, community and creativity.
- Melbourne’s city centre is set to pulse with rhythm, movement and flavour when Mousiqa Bil Madina takes over Fed Square on Saturday 9 May. The free, all-ages event invites locals to experience a rich showcase of Arabic music, arts and culture right in the heart of the city.
- Keilor Park will come to life on 9 May with a warm, vibrant celebration of its proud Italian heritage with the Festa Della Mamma Mother’s Day Market.
- Heathcote Winegrowers Association is once again bringing a little taste of Heathcote to the City at the Abbotsford Convent on Saturday 9 May,
- The Geelong Baby and Childrens Market is on 9 May
- The Lara Holistic and Psychic Expo is on 9 May.
- The Geelong Bay City Swap Meet is on 9 May.
- Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building will host a major celebration on 9 and 10 May 2026, marking 125 years since the opening of Australia’s Federal Parliament with a weekend of free events, performances and historical reflection.
- The Mother’s Day Market in Greensborough is on 9 May.
- The Northcote Theatre Record Fair is on 10 May.
- The Cruden Farm Mothers Day Market is on 10 May.
- Gather your garden-loving friends and family this Mother’s Day for the Botanica Festival, the National Trust of Australia’s annual celebration of the natural environment, sustainability and gardening at Rippon Lea Estate on 10 May.
- Until 10 May 2026 the first Ballarat Craft and Design Week is being rolled out – a precinct-wide program that leans into making, storytelling and creative exchange.
- FOMO Cinemas in East Brunswick is hosting Ani-May – a full month of the finest animated feature films to the big screen throughout May.
- The Stratford Shakespeare Festival runs until 10 May.
- The 9th Geelong Pride Film Festival runs until Sunday 10th May 2026 at the Pivotonian Cinema, Platform Arts, Geelong Arts Centre and Village Cinemas Geelong.
- Set to captivate curious audiences with its panoramic celebration of new and provocative films that dare to venture beyond the cinematic norm, Fantastic Film Festival Australia returns until 15 May at Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn, Thornbury Picture House and Brunswick Picture House.
- Silvers Circus will be in Geelong until 17 May.
- 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.
- Elmo’s Circus Dream will be at Cragieburn until 17 May.
- The Australian Heritage Festival runs until 18 May and explores the state’s places and spaces, stories, collections and ideas that make us who we are.
- Ghosts, monsters and martial arts collide on ACMI’s big screen in a bold program of Hong Kong horror cinema that’s running until 18 May.
- A globally acclaimed light and sound experience Eonarium: Enlightenment is bringing a vivid reimagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons to the Immigration Museum until 31 May.
- FOMO Cinemas in East Brunswick is hosting Ani-May – a full month of the finest animated feature films to the big screen throughout May.
- A new exhibition at WAMA in the Grampians is inviting visitors to look down, slow down and rethink what’s happening beneath their feet. Entanglements with Fungi: Life, Death and Renewal opens at the National Centre for Environmental Art until 1 June, drawing together multidisciplinary artists to explore the strange and vital world of the fungal kingdom.
- Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience runs until 29 June – transforming the Fever Exhibition and Experience Centre in Brunswick into a playful universe filled with light, colour and giant bubbles, inviting visitors to explore more than 10 imaginative rooms designed to spark curiosity and creativity.
- Premiering at ACMI until 12 July 2026, Play School: Come and Play!invites pre-schoolers and their grown-ups behind the scenes of the iconic show, revealing how an episode of Play School is made today.
- Step into a prehistoric world as more than 60 animatronic dinosaurs arrive across three local zoos for a special seasonal event. Dinos at the Zoo will run until Sunday 12 July at Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, spanning both the Easter and winter school holiday periods.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
What’s on in Melbourne and regional Victoria this week: 4-10 May 2026
By Melbourning
National Trust Botanica Festival at Rippon Lea
