Hard or soft, blue or white, fresh or aged – Australians love cheese.

MOULD: A CHEESE FESTIVAL is a celebration of that love, bringing together the best artisan producers from across the country for a day of cheese, wine, masterclasses and more.

This is going to be special. To kick off Melbourne Knowledge Week 2018, we’ve asked the nerds at Future Crunch to develop a brand new musical show to help us ‘Know Next Now’. Showcasing their infectious brand of intelligent optimism, this is a story about the future of Melbourne (and the planet) that you’ve never heard before.

Join us for our 22nd annual museums and galleries conference to debate, discuss, share and network with peers. You can find like-minded and dissenting opinions in the mix, at the heritage-listed (former) Meat Market in the City of Melbourne.

Soul Craft is a festival for those of us who dream about making!

Soul Craft is a weekend long celebration of craft and connection presented by The Craft Sessions; created to bring the craft community together with lots of space and time to talk all things craft.

After raising a sickening $10k in 2017 for Victorian AIDS Council, VAC-Stravaganza annual fundraiser is back back back back back again...

That’s right hennies, VAC is serving you a gagworthy amount of Drag Race themed trivia for your nerves dawwling.

With trivia spanning 12 illustrious seasons of the hit drag reality show – with a sprinkling of queer pop culture, your edges will be SNATCHED.

Ready to drink some wine, eat some food and smash a plate or two? OINOFILIA, a celebration of Greek wine and food, is back for 2018!

What is Oinofilia?
By definition - from the Greek oîn - Oinofilia is a love of wine. Greece is one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world, yet while we go crazy for its food (hot, herby roasted lamb, salty cheese and olives, charred seafood) we tend to overlook its vinous exports. And we shouldn't - the wines Greece produces are among the best in the world.

Oinofilia is a proper celebration of Greek wine, food and culture, brought to you by REVEL (the team behind Pinot Palooza, Game of Rhones, Gauchito Gil's Malbec Day and more).

Back for our fourth year of French-Australian fusion over the Bastille Day weekend!

Bringing you the best of French culture, time to whip out those three words you learnt in high school and let them echo under the iconic arches of North Melbourne’s Meat Market.

And if you’re not a French fanatic, it’s an easy excuse to come consume endless amounts of delicious food and drink, attend some engaging masterclasses and talks, watch a movie in our cinéma, listen to some live performances and buy some quirky gifts.

BAROSSA: BE CONSUMED

It says it all really, doesn’t it? The Barossa is a region that captivates the imagination, and has an unrivalled bounty of wine, beauty, culture, and produce to offer. The ‘Barossa. Be Consumed’ event is a one day celebration of all the things that define this truly unique and special region.

Not just a tasting of the region’s brilliant wines, ‘Barossa. Be Consumed’ also offers an immersion into the food, culture, history and character of what makes up this incredible region. A new and exciting wine event that brings together all these aspects to engage a broad and new audience and help them fall further in love with things Barossa.

Be consumed indeed.

MTV’s iconic Unplugged series makes its Australian debut at Meat Market with Gang of Youths. Gang of Youths will perform stripped-back versions of songs from their latest album, 2017’s Go Farther In Lightness, to a live audience.

The second artist to feature on MTV Unplugged: Melbourne, Amy Shark performs stripped-back versions of acclaimed hits like 'Adore' as well as some brand new tracks from her upcoming album, 'Monster Love'.

The Big Design Trade is an industry-only event where buyers can source new products from both Australian designers and international brands represented by local wholesalers. Located at the Meat Market in North Melbourne, The Big Design Trade will be open to registered visitors for 3 days, from 2–4 August 2018.

The event brings together a carefully curated selection of exhibitors from across the country, presenting beautifully handcrafted ceramics and textiles, ethically made kids clothing, small-batch organic body products, locally designed homewares and capsule collections from independent fashion and accessories designers.

We're kicking off this year's Roadshow in the wonderful city of Melbourne. Discover the wineries along the famed Coonawarra Strip at Meat Market.

Can connecting with our past illuminate our future? What does it mean to belong in a world that is constantly shifting? At TEDxMelbourne 2018 embrace uncertainty and connect with other curious minds as our intimate and immersive new format gently nudges you toward the unfamiliar.

Join us as we venture into The Great Unknown - Who we’ve been. What we’ll become.

On Monday 13 August cast off the conventional, arm yourself with curiosity and join your fellow adventurers, dreamers and knowledge-seekers as we throw open the doors to possibilities and delve into the big questions.

Kangan Institute has joined forces with Australian Red Cross to bring you the Rags to Runway – Great Southern Style fashion show during Melbourne Fashion Week.

The fourth Biggest Ever Blokes’ Lunch Melbourne, proudly presented by Sportsbet, will be held on Friday, September 7, 2018 at Meat Market in North Melbourne.

Circalicious is a mad cap mash up of Melbourne’s circus tribe, a spectacular display of jugglers, contortionists, trapeze artists, acrobats and more. We bring you the freshest, newest work from Melbourne's shiniest new circus stars! This show is a different line up every night, you never know who you’ll see next!

When a pair of young tradesmen realise that their worksite is getting audited, they know that they can be totally relaxed and confident that their site will be 100% satisfactory...

Sam and Grover deliver a brilliant combination of acrobatic skills and absurdity in their first work together after graduating from the Flying Fruit Fly Circus in 2017.

End Grain is a sculptural performance by award winning Australian Artist Skye Gellmann that contemplates our relationship to timber, objects and the subversion of violence.

UNLIMITED FREQUENCY - MCB'S ANNUAL CONTEMPORARY SHOWCASE

Connoisseur’s Discovery Festival, presented by Broadsheet Melbourne, will transform North Melbourne’s Meat Market into a celebration of designers, artists, chefs and musicians. Local labels including FME Apparel, Limb and Molly Younger will showcase their wares, and Client Liaison’s 1980s-inspired athleisure wear is also up for grabs. You’ll be able to buy everything from linen jumpsuits and frill-neck lizard-print shirts to handmade, sculptural natural latex luggage. Preston’s Plantsmith will bring all manner of flora as well as answer your queries about how […]

A personal and up close runway viewing of 25 graduate collections from the 2018 class of RMIT's Bachelor Fashion Design Honours program. Capsule is giving you the chance to grab a drink and watch as over 200 incredible student designs walk past you, all before you get to speak to the designers themselves about their work. Engage with and experience the next generation of Australian fashion design.

What’s Junipalooza you ask? Let’s break it down:

Juni: An abbreviation of Gin’s signature botanical, juniper.
Palooza: A party, celebration or festival.
Junipalooza: Dozens and dozens of gin makers in one room, sharing their love for the spirit and serving up samples and stories for all to enjoy.

Join special guest Annie Sloan, internationally renowned colour and paint expert and creator of Chalk Paint, who will - for the first time in Australia - give exclusive hands-on workshops and an insight into her techniques and tips.

100 for 100 is an ELISION concert of contemporary classical Polish composers in Melbourne held at Meat Market, 3PM, on November 11th. The event is free.   Featured composers include Dobromila Jaskot, Dominik Karski, Jagoda Szmytka and Marcin Stańczyk.   The performance is part of an extremely ambitious world-wide project celebrating one hundred years of Polish freedom. Concerts will be given all around the globe in major venues, from New York to […]

Accomplished vocalist and performer Anouska Taylor is proudly presenting her hugely successful musical tribute to Eva Cassidy at Meat Market, a unique heritage-listed performance venue in North Melbourne. This event is for one night only and is not to be missed.

The Rage Dance Company presents its first ever Showcase: Phoenix! Phoenix is the story of us, the beginning of something new & exciting. It’s how we started, the songs that speak to us, empower us, make us just want to get up & dance & make us feel free. You’re invited to come along & support the kids that make the heart & soul of The Rage Dance Company, the […]

As part of Melbourne Music Week 2018, Australian Musician, MESS and PBS is proud to present the inaugural Melbourne Synth Festival (November 23-25) at Meat Market. Following a similar template to our successful Melbourne Guitar Show, the Melbourne Synth Festival will be Australia’s premier event dedicated to all things in the world of synthesisers, DJ equipment and electronic music making. See, try and buy the latest in music technology. Complete […]

The works in this concert revisit the ancient tradition of combining voices with brass and wind instruments. Anton Bruckner's great Mass in e minor (1866, revised later), composed for 8-part choir, winds and brass, references Gregorian chant and Palestrina. Also included are Bach's short funeral motet BWV 118, and Stravinsky's Mass, scored for chorus and double wind quintet. Rick Prakhoff conducts the choir and ensemble.

festival21 is a two-day celebration of just that: the potential for food to inspire positive change. ​ Food is universal, and personal. Food brings people together, and means something to all of us. Yet today, the way we grow, process, eat, purchase, and waste food is causing serious harm to our health, our social system, and our planet. The food system contributes a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of […]

Industry-only event. Melbourne Retail Festival (MRF) is a premium fashion trade event, open to all areas of the fashion, jewellery and footwear trades. By showcasing established and emerging, local and international brands, MRF allows buyers, wholesalers and designers to connect and showcase their latest collections and offerings. Our comprehensive marketplace provides a platform for clothing, accessories, footwear and jewellery. WHAT'S ON DISPLAY? The 2-day festival has 150+ brands on show […]

Equip is a time to get together, be envisioned and encouraged; to pray, worship, and fellowship together. The focus is on hearing God's heart and what He's saying prophetically for our nation, leadership training, and building relationship.

Presented by Arts House as part of Dance Massive Accessible performances: Wheelchair accessible Two women carry and haul, run, wait – and consider: what’s clearly necessary, right now? Each asks with all that she is. In duet the women age the body, expand it, injure it. They change. The dance dwells in an ecosystem of seasonality, a rhythm of work that allows the women to persist in unsentimental relationship to […]

Presented by Arts House as part of Dance Massive Leading contemporary dancers Narelle Benjamin and Paul White come together for an evolutionary new dance work. Inspired by the building blocks of life – cells – Cella explores the idea that the most complex patterns imaginable in our biological systems can be found repeated in all of us. The culmination of the shared histories, practices and interests of its creators, the […]

Presented by Arts House as part of Dance Massive Four First Nation female artists, each from a different Country within Australia, invite you to share in a conversation that they have been yarning about for years. DubaiKungkaMiyalk brings together Mariaa Randall, Rheannan Port, Henrietta Baird, Carly Sheppard and Ngioka Bunda-Heath, four contemporary choreographers who tell stories through dance. Each of the women have created a work that draws on their […]

Presented by Arts House and Marrugeku as part of Dance Massive Questions of cultural, political and personal decolonisation in Australia and New Caledonia are the focus of the bold and breathtaking Le Dernier Appel / The Last Cry. Inspired by the New Caledonian referendum on independence and Australia’s long-running debate on constitutional recognition for First Nations people, this energetic inter-cultural performance examines the ways dance has been shaped by colonisation. […]

Presented by Arts House as part of Dance Massive Created and performed by Alice Dixon, Caroline Meaden and William McBride, with an ensemble of collaborating artists, Lady Example undertakes a deranged and exquisite stocktake of our histories and mythologies to propose a litany of new, glorious, shuddering worlds. Combining contemporary dance and theatre, this shimmering and mischievous performance considers the historical and contemporary feminine – on our stages, on our […]

Presented by Arts House as part of Dance Massive There’s a site, where the physical and spiritual meet. Where the passing of lore between two coexisting worlds occurs. Boomerangs clap, possum skin drums thud, singing and chanting echo while feet rhythmically stomp. And then silence. Conversation has been disconnected and commutes have ceased. The site is suspended; no longer activated. Karul Projects invite you to experience the story of this […]

Presented by Arts House for Dance Massive The theatre is transformed into a pulsating nocturnal universe as Melanie Lane’s exhilarating NIGHTDANCE returns to Arts House. Traditional dance forms are turned on their head as Lane and her co-performers move between exotic dance, techno, burlesque and pop. Join them on a transformative journey through sound, space and light and into the world of night-time entertainment. As you navigate the social, sensual […]

AFFIX is a contemporary and lyrical dance piece bought to you by Indefinite Dance Company. Together, this cast of youth dancers aged between 12 and 17 will explore how they feel connected to the world and to themselves. About the Artist Indefinite Dance Company aims to offer opportunities for dancers to extend their training and further their dance knowledge. For like minded dancers to come together and perform in full […]

Reverb A contemporary triple bill featuring three stunning new contemporary dance works from Jacinta Martorella, Byron Lewis and Valentina Dillon.  All three choreographers are all under age 25 and each bring a unique flavour to their work, pushing boundaries and transforming their incredible thoughts and explosive concepts into physical movement. Biophilia // Choreography: Valentina Dillon  'Bio' meaning 'life' and 'philia' meaning 'love of'. Biophilia is the idea that humans have an […]

GAUCHITO GILS'S MALBEC DAY is BACK for 2019! Gauchito Gil’s Malbec Day is Australia’s biggest celebration of Argentina’s most famous grape. Inspired by the legend of Gauchito Gil – a Robin Hood-type character who robbed the rich to feed the poor – Gauchito Gil’s Malbec Day will see the best malbec producers from Argentina, Australia France and beyond come together for a day of tastings, tango, beer, empanadas and more. […]

"Simon as beautifully played by Craig Lauzon is often full of despair but not self-pitying." Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter Tales of an Urban Indian is a dark comedy about the life of Simon Douglas, a contemporary First Nations man raised on the reserve in British Columbia and the streets of downtown Vancouver. Uniquely staged on a moving bus driving around city locations, Simon encounters a variety of people who shape […]

Founded and mentored by local hip-hop legend Briggs, the Bad Apples label hosts a line-up of the hottest new talent in town. Bring the ruckus with MCs, producers and beatmakers headlined by hip-hop trailblazer Birdz with freshness from Kobie Dee, Nooky, Philly, Ridzy Ray and singer-songwriter Kee-ahn. This swag of Blak excellence will shine alongside Melbourne’s own Soju Gang – trading her spot on the dancefloor for a spot behind […]

Foodies and fashionistas! Make a beeline for Blak Market showcasing 20 First Nations–owned businesses, including fashion designers, jewellery makers, craftspeople and bush foods. Sign up for weaving workshops presented by Glenda Nicholls and Labay Eyong and chill to acoustic vibes from local performers including Isabelle Skye Thomson, Robert K Champion and Pirritu Brett Lee.

Ahead of their theatre performances later in the week, meet the exceptional Wiradjuri Elders of A Little Piece of Heaven for an intimate storytelling experience. A Little Piece of Heaven is the extraordinary story of Uncle Dick and Aunty Ruth Carney, from their blossoming teenage love to the loss, triumph, learning and growing of their 55 years of marriage. Hear the Elders tell their story around the campfire.