The Best Things To Do In Melbourne This Weekend
Searching for the best things to do in Melbourne/Naarm this weekend? You're in luck. The calendar is always full of top-tier happenings in Melbourne.
Whether it's a foodie find, a magical night market or a street festival, Melbourne is serving up another weekend of fun events and activities.
Here's everything that's on in Melbourne this weekend.
Immerse Yourself In Melbourne Fashion Week
Various Locations | 19–25 October
It’s the city at its most stylish. Melbourne Fashion Week is a showcase of design, aesthetics, fashion history and cultural deep-dives. Catch City Square Runways (including a special ode to Melbourne’s unique street style), an Australian/New Zealand Designer Clothes Swap, the Out of Fashion Book Fair at ACMI, the Behind the Seams swap and sustainability conversation and the last day of the Australian Fashion History exhibition at Zinc. Check out the Fashion Capsules scattered throughout the city and see what workshops are happening.
It's Halloween At Luna Park
Luna Park, St Kilda 22 October–1 November
Spooky season has come early this year at Luna Park, with spine-tingling attractions day and night. Find your way through their creepy mazes: test your bravery in Extreme Phobia, dodge the clowns in Carnival of Screams and keep an eye on the scarecrows in the Harvest of Horrors. They keep the rides going by night, with the added bonus of a Haunted Spirits Bar with Halloween cocktails and performers. The kids will love the less scary daytime sessions, with a Wizz Fizz pumpkin patch, themed carnival games and the chance to win treats from the monsters.
Cleo Rooftop Is Serving A King Prawn Gilda And Spiced Mango Margarita For Just $25
Cleo Rooftop, Level 12, 130 Russell Street, Melbourne, VIC | 5 October to 1 November 2026
Image: Urban List
There’s nothing quite like a rooftop bar with sweeping views of a dazzling city skyline, and Cleo Rooftop on Russell Street is one of the best spots to soak it all in. Even better, this sun-drenched venue is serving up a seriously delicious snack and cocktail pairing. Tuck into the King Prawn Gilda, featuring fresh Spencer Gulf king prawns marinated in smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic, fennel, cumin seed and lemon zest, skewered with pickled golden Greek chilli peppers and served with a side of tzatziki. Pair it with a spiced mango margarita, all for just $25 per person.
Get Into Some Bevs And Books At Book Doof
Section 8, Melbourne | 25 October, 12pm–5pm
Get together at Melbourne’s favourite laneway bar and… read quietly. The Book Doof is back at Section 8 for a group reading experience. Last session was so popular they’ve expanded the event next door to Aster. If you haven’t been to a Book Doof yet, it’s a group reading experience where you show up with a book (or sketchpad, journal, any similar quiet activity) and disconnect. Chill music plays, you can buy a drink or two, make new friends, or just relax. Picture it: Book in one hand, beer in the other. Perfect afternoon. It's walk-in only, and pay-what-you-feel donations at the door.
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
Melbourne | 16–25 October
Image: Melbourne International Jazz Festival | Instagram
Whether you’re a jazz cat or just love a great party, Melbourne International Jazz Festival brings a killer lineup of global and local acts and free events throughout the city. These are big names, too. GRAMMY‑winning Kris Davis is taking the stage with her trio, showing off the contemporary jazz stylings that are dominating the NYC scene right now. It’s not just jazz, with acts like six-time ARIA winning blues musos, the Teskey Brothers, and synth maestro BIGYUKI with jazz fusion.
Join a free, family friendly New Orleans-style street party, a musical bar crawl in Footscray, free jazz in Fed Square on Saturday and Sunday and so much more.
Festival Indonesia
Federation Square | 24 October
Now in its 13th year, Festival Indonesia is a celebration of Indonesian culture. Catch live music and dance performances, browse Indonesian fashion and artisan stalls, join a craft workshop or learn to play the angklung and enjoy all the delicious food on offer, with regional specialties, homestyle dishes and fiery sambals. Bring the family, join a flashmob, maybe win a raffle, make a day of it.
Your Last Chance To See ROME: Empire, Power, People
Melbourne Museum | Until 25 October
It’s the final weekend of the ROME exhibition at Melbourne Museum. Book your tickets and wander through an immersive exhibition that feels like walking through time. Come face-to-face with imperial statues, marvel at the mosaics, see the objects of a Roman home and the gear of gladiators, discover rituals of life and death and see the ruins brought back to life with CGI modelling.
Margaret Preston At The NGV
Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne | 4 September 2026–31 January 2027
After seven decades of work and over 200 paintings, prints, and sculptures, the first major retrospective retrospective of Margaret Preston’s career in over 20 years is heading for the NGV’s Ian Potter Centre. Opening in September, this landmark exhibition will chart the full arc of one of Australia’s most influential modern artists. Preston is known for her Post-Impressionist-influenced still lifes of the early 1900s, her expansive landscapes depicting the 1940s, and her characteristically bold woodblock prints that she’s perhaps best known for.
In addition to Preston’s work, you’ll be able to check out nineteen works by contemporary First Nations artists like world-premiere commissions by Marilyn Russell and Jimmy Frank Jupurrla. This places Preston’s appropriation of Indigenous visual culture in direct and necessary dialogue with the people who have since responded to, interrogated, and reframed it.
To explore highlight artworks like Flannel flowers, Shoalhaven Gorge, New South Wales, and over 30 woodblock prints
The Ultimate Sunday Reset At Cleo
Cleo at Hyde Melbourne Place, Melbourne | Sunday 25 October
Image: Cleo | Supplied
Rebranding Sunday mornings in time for the warmer weather feels very ‘spring cleaning’ to us. Hyde Melbourne Place is partnering with The Melbourne Apothecary (the naturopathic health collective at MECCA Bourke Street) for The Sunday Reset: 12 weeks of Sunday morning wellness that’s running from October all the way till Christmas.
Each session begins down on Level 1 in the Emerald Room, where certified Buteyko practitioner and naturopath Carly Woods leads 45 minutes of guided breathwork. Then, move upstairs to the (frankly iconic) Cleo rooftop for a shared brunch—complete with barista coffee—as the city wakes up below. If you’re wanting to take your Sunday morning reset even further, add 24K gold ear seeding. The seeds are placed on targeted pressure points for sleep, stress relief and balance.
Spots for The Sunday Reset are capped at 35 guests per week; everything you need is provided, and no prior breathwork experience is needed. Bookings are essential, so grab your tickets here.
Celebrate Defiant Love At The Rebel Heart Exhibition
Keith Murdoch Gallery, State Library Victoria | Until 27 January 2027
Image: Rebel Heart | Eugene Hyland
Love doesn’t follow a rulebook, and the State Library Victoria’s latest exhibition is dedicated to the people who throw that book entirely out the window. Rebel Heart: Love Letters and Other Declarations uses the Library’s extensive archive of letters, diaries, and rare manuscripts to share stories of romantic defiance across the ages, from Victorian-era same-sex couples to a mid-century marriage caught in the crossfire of the White Australia policy.
The high notes of the exhibition include a mourning brooch woven from the hair of pastoralist couple Anne Drysdale and Caroline Newcomb, and the story of bushrangers Captain Moonlight and James Nesbitt after they met in Pentridge Prison. Eventually turning to the present, Rebel Heart explores digital intimacy through mixtapes, DMs, and even AI relationships.
Check out original music commissions from Angie McMahon, Mindy Meng Wang, Mo’Ju, and Amos Roach, all of which respond to the material on display to add a truly moving layer to the experience. Entry is free, and the exhibition runs until January 2027; find out more here.
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Bubble Planet
62 Dawson St, Brunswick | Ongoing
Image credit: Bubble Planet | Supplied
Lift your spirits: Bubble Planet is floating into Brunswick on 1 April.
Bubble Planet has already mesmerised more than ten cities around the world—from London to Los Angeles, and New York to Milan—where it’s drawn over five million visitors. How does it work? Well, guests move through a spherical universe via multiple rooms, each featuring surreal, dream-like landscapes and everything from giant inflatables to floating soapy bubbles. Explore the Giant Bubble Dome, where you can relax on huge inflatable clouds while watching meditative animations above, and the continuous illusions of the Infinity Room.
There are 11 rooms to discover at Bubble Planet (hosted at Fever Melbourne). Visitors of all ages will love the colourful combination of technology, creativity, and the senses in this floor-to-ceiling sensory experience.
Main image credit: City of Melbourne | WebsiteUrban List Best Of: has our highest stamp of approval—curated lists of the very best recommendations for you to eat, do, see, buy or book, carefully chosen by our Editors.
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