What's on this week in Melbourne

Discover things to do in Melbourne this week, from free events to exhibitions, attractions and places to visit.

The city reflecting colourful lights over the river at night.

Things to do this week

Dark image of a Dracula figure lit with red light on stage.
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Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest

A bold, cinematic reimagining of the gothic classic.

Players from the Melbourne Mustangs ice hockey team wearing their orange and black jerseys during an ice hockey league match on an ice rink.
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Ice Hockey Junior Showcase

Catch the final two junior showcase games for the year.

Visitors enjoying an evening event at the National Gallery of Victoria, seated on stools under shadowy lighting.
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NGV Friday Nights: Cartier

NGV Friday Nights shine with Cartier, featuring live music, flims, food and drinks.

Novelty wind-up chattering teeth against a yellow background.
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Basement Comedy Club: Weekend Showcase

Bringing you the biggest names and best comedians in the country, and beyond.

Parents and child seated in cinema seats, parents holding large striped containers of popcorn, the child in the middle smiling up at the screen.
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Library Cinema at narrm ngarrgu

Each month, watch a movie on the big screen, including contemporary, classic and documentary films.

Participants on the State Library Victoria Unlocked guided morning tour inside the iconic dome at State Library Victoria in Melbourne.
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State Library Victoria Unlocked

Join an exclusive guided tour and experience State Library Victoria before the doors open.

A dark interior space, with smoky purple rounds of light, silhouettes of people's arms pushing into these open spaces.
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Imaginator

An immersive experience that celebrates imagination, technology and play.

An oil painting depicting a scene from a Moroccan courtyard in earthy warm tones.
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Susannah Bond and Melissa Fraser: Oceans Apart

Contemporary oil paintings capturing the recent travels of artists Melissa Fraser and Susannah Bond.

Installation view of the Spartans & Anzacs exhibition at the Shrine of Remembrance, with people walking around the space, reading panels and looking at displays.
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Spartans & Anzacs

This exhibition invites reflection on the enduring values forged in conflict.

Black and white photograph of a busy Melbourne city intersection with trams, cars, people crossing the road, and buildings, dating from around the 1950s or 1960s.
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Making Modern Melbourne

This free exhibition examines the tumultuous twentieth century in Melbourne.

Four rows of people sitting smiling and laughing.
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Kings of Comedy: Underground, Uncensored, Unrivalled

Enjoy stand-up comedy from future stars and celebrity guest headliners.

A highly detailed hand-drawing of three elaborately dressed women of the 17th century Royal Court of England.

The Women Who Clothed The Stuart Queens

A talk on fashioning the Royal Court and the women who clothed the Stuart queens with Sarah Bendall.

A woman with theatrical witch makeup and an elaborate, tall gray hairstyle intertwined with dark green foliage poses against a solid light green background.
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Pulse

Pulse is a love song to a bleeding ocean created by Susan Bamford Caleo and Elissa Goodrich.

A group of smiling participants in a studio workshop setting, holding glass-domed terrariums.
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Serene Terrarium: Workshop for Beginners

Create your mini plant world while enjoying a soothing cuppa and a calming environment.

An interactive dance workshop in a studio, where participants are learning a dance following instructions from a man holding a microphone.
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Salsa Dancing Classes

Enjoy a free salsa dance class, where all levels are welcomed.

Four women standing and holding up small mosaic lamps in front of a circular neon sign.
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Mosaic Art Classes Melbourne: Turkish Lamp Workshop

Make beautiful mosaic lamps at this Turkish lamp workshop

Several rows of people painting on canvases in a room with large, wall murals.
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Drip Splash: Creative Night Out

Unleash your inner artist with a night of drinks, paint, music and friends.

A green linocut of a flower and foliage printed on paper and a fabric tote bag.
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Tote Bag Block Printing Workshop

Style your bag just the way you like it with block printing in this beginner's workshop.

A smiling adult holding a scrunched-up bit of paper and interacting with a smiling infant lying on a cushioned surface, against a yellow background.
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Welcome The Little Stranger

A joyful theatre show for babies and their adults from Pocketfool.

A little girl looking at a colourful display of cushions in an art gallery.
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Children's Play: Ragnar Kjartansson

A new children's exhibition by Ragnar Kjartansson, inspired by the idea of a theatrical feast.

A delicately painted porcelain plate with a blue design depicting waves around the outside and a burning landscape in the centre.
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Margaret Ackland: Reflections

Margaret Ackland’s elegant still lifes serve up the uneasy truths of contemporary life.

An Australian landscape watercolour painting by Maxine Wade, of a large gum tree by a body of water, in muted shades of green, blue, tan and cream.
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Maxine Wade: Land For Sale

This exhibition features Australian landscapes painted in watercolour.

Four cabaret performers surrounded by pink and yellow feather fans.
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Cabaret Ridiculous

An hour of variety entertainment that’s as unpredictable as it is unforgettable.

Person seated on a couch with graffiti scrawled on the walls, a pile of books on their lap.

Book Doof: A Daytime Rave for Readers

A no-pressure shared space for book lovers and creatives to relax, read, write or make – with music.

Woman in blue dress sitting in a garden, with face upturned.
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Forest Therapy

Unwind with forest therapy (shinrin-yoku) and immerse your senses in nature.

People seated in a dark bar venue watching a stand-up comic performing on stage, holding a microphone.
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Underground Comedy

This comedy night offers raw, unfiltered stand-up every week.

A group of friends playing the board game dungeons and dragons at Fortress Tavern Melbourne, with a Dungeon Master dressed in a witch's costume leading the game.
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Dungeons and Flagons

Forge friendships through adventure at Dungeons and Flagons at Fortress.

A woman with two red plaits and a white cap holds up a picture book in a kids library area.
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Stompers

Bring your child to Library at The Dock on Tuesdays for a lifelong love of books.

Rooftop garden at Fed Square with people under market umbrellas.
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RESET: A Festival for Grounding and Growing

Slow down, find joy in the hands-on and discover creative ways to live more sustainably this spring.

Tour group standing on the steps of the Royal Exhibition Building.
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Romance, Glamour and Migrants: An Italian Food History Walk

Find out why Melbourne is obsessed with Italian food on this cultural and culinary walking tour.

Group dancing in a Melbourne laneway, led by a man in a bright green and yellow shiny outfit.

Silent Disco Tour: ABBA Theme with Disko Duk Duk

An ABBA themed silent disco tour of Melbourne, hosted by Disko Duk Duk.

Seated audience watching a standup comedian perform with microphone in a small underground venue.
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Bar Humbug Comedy

Bar Humbug Comedy is a free weekly stand-up comedy night.

Liza Minelli and Joel Grey performing wearing 1930s vaudeville costume in a still from the movie Cabaret.

Capitol Theatre Orchestra followed by Cabaret Screening

Enjoy a performance of 1920s jazz before entering the decadent world of 1930s Berlin.

Two people standing in front of a large pink spiky wall of speakers in an exhibition space.
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Reverb: A Journey into Sound

ACMI and RISING present Reverb: A Journey Into Sound, a major exhibition of vinyl culture and music.

Georgian antiques decorating a dining table, including candlesticks and ornaments.
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Taste and Temptation

An exhibition exploring the taste and temptations of 18th-century drinking and dining.

A man dressed as Elton John with a white suit and comically tall top hat and high-heeled boots, stretching in a flamboyant pose.
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Elton John: Your Song

Matthew Hadgraft presents the music of Elton John.

Two people on a stage giving each other a high five, one also holding a microphone.
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Comedy at the Coopers Inn

A comedy club featuring the best local, interstate and international stand-up comedians.

An ancient Roman marble bust with its nose chipped off, displayed on a small square plinth.
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Rome: Empire, Power, People

This Melbourne-exclusive exhibition is a vibrant exploration of Ancient Rome.

A black and white photograph of a family eating a meal at the family dining table circa 1950.
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You Have a New Memory

An exhibition that explores how and why we remember, through the lens of the Library's collections.

Large choral group wearing pink-themed outfits, standing on a dark stage with pink lights.

Brit Belles

The Decibelles female choir presents Brit Belles – Spice up Your Night.

Discover more

People milling around Fed Square at sunset.

What's on today

Discover free events, epic festivals and shows on in Melbourne today.

The NGV and Arts Centre lit up on a winter night.

What's on this weekend in Melbourne

Discover things to do in Melbourne this weekend, from free events to exhibitions.

People on deck chairs watching a movie in Fed Square on a large screen.

What's free in Melbourne this month

Everything to see, do and enjoy in Melbourne for free this month.

A night tennis match at Rod Laver Arena.

Major events

From the Australian Open to the Melbourne Cup, major events take centre stage throughout the year.