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People looking at floral light artworks.
Photograph: Supplied

Things to do in Melbourne this weekend

We've got you covered for the best things to do in Melbourne this Friday to Sunday

Liv Condous
Written by
Liv Condous
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March 18, 2024: Revheads, start your engines, because the Formula One Grand Prix is back in Melbourne this weekend. Or if you're not much of a racing enthusiast, it's your last chance to dine on delicious dishes at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. For a culture dose, a brand new exhibition at The LumeLeonardo da Vinci – 500 Years of Genius, is now open. In the theatre world, beloved musical Wicked is wowing audiences with a truly magical production, while Groundhog Day the Musical (which garnered a five star review from our arts and culture editor) is in town for a limited run. And the NGV Triennial is in its final weeks, so catch the huge exhibition while you can. 

There's always something happening in this fair city of ours, so don't let the week pass you by without popping a few fun events into your social calendar. To help you plan, we've rounded up all the best activities happening this week, so all you have to do is scroll, pick and embark on your adventure.

When in doubt, you can always rely on our catch-all lists of Melbourne's best bars, restaurants, museums, parks and galleries, or consult our bucket list of 101 things to do in Melbourne before you die.  

Looking for more ways to fill up your calendar? Plan a trip around our beautiful state with our handy travel guides.

The best things to do in Melbourne this weekend

  • Things to do
  • price 0 of 4
  • Werribee

Wyndham Park is getting a literal glow-up this March with a dazzling after dark experience returning to the Werribee recreation area. Lit at Wyndham Park is a free, after-hours art experience that turns the space into a glowing wonderland through a number of immersive attractions.  This year, highlights include several large-scale installations, including a colourful, interactive ChronoHarp instrument, giant glowing trumpet flowers that perform musical melodies, a glowing moon, giant night parrots, a glowing light walk and much more. To make a night of it, there's plenty of restaurants, bars, pubs and more within the city centre of Werribee.  Lit at Wyndham Park is free to enjoy and will run nightly Wednesday to Sunday from March 8 to 24, open between 8pm and 11pm. There will also be a sensory friendly night on March 12. Enter via Werribee's Wedge Street Piazza and head to the website for more information. Looking for more fun? Here's our guide to what's on in Melbourne this weekend.

  • Things to do
  • Fairs and festivals
  • Melbourne

Get on your bibs and start planning! The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is returning with its annual jam-packed program from March 15 to March 24, 2024. Featuring a star-studded line-up of chefs, local food heroes and special dining experiences for the public, it's a full-throated celebration of Melbourne’s food and drink scene – and our forks are at the ready. We've rounded up just a few of the highlights you can look forward to in 2024. The ten-day event kicks off with the festival's signature World’s Longest Lunch, spearheaded this year by none other than Melbourne hospo royalty Andrew McConnell (Gimlet, Cumulus Inc, Cutler and Co, Supernormal, Marion). McConnell said, “MFWF is crucial to continuing and reinforcing Melbourne’s reputation as the cultural and gastronomic capital of Australia. It’s an honour to be headlining the World’s Longest Lunch in Kings Domain as part of the 2024 festival.” The celebrated chef will be serving an extravagant three-course lunch across more than 600 metres of table winding through Melbourne’s Kings Domain. Paired wines and light entertainment are included in the lunch, which you can book at the website. You can also tuck in to some fine fare at the World’s Longest Brunch, led by a trio of Melbourne’s new wave Indian food geniuses Harry Mangat (Biji Dining), Helly Raichura (Enter via Laundry) and Mischa Tropp (Toddy Shop). Mangat opens the brunch with his delicious take on chaat, followed by the classic Goan ros omelette from mastermind T

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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Melbourne

The “Matilda for grown-ups” comparisons are true: this Australian premiere burrows all the way down into the depths of despair and climbs triumphantly back out again, all within two snappy acts.  As per the classic 1993 film starring Bill Murray, Groundhog Day takes place on a very big day in a very small Pennsylvanian town. Each year on February 2, a large rodent emerges from his burrow to predict when winter will end. The Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Andy Karl stars as Phil Connors, the jaded weatherman who gets sucked into a time loop covering the perky celebration over and over (and over) again.  A musical adaptation of a film about becoming a better person runs the risk of feeling twee. However, Tim Minchin’s zingingly clever lyrics and Danny Rubin’s gutsy book take the essence of the film and wring out considerably more depth and grit to give the musical its own more mature personality. What would you really do if you were trapped repeating the same average-at-best day forever? Groundhog Day takes this premise and stretches it to all its thorny extremes, and isn’t afraid to get dark as hell in the process. This is a musical that fully embraces its format, combining unabashed theatrics with some A-grade scumbag antics and moments of heart wrenching depression from Phil. Each scene takes things a step further than expected, whether that be into malarkey or melancholia, and is all the better for it. Andy Karl’s performance as Phil is nothing short of supe

  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Melbourne

My first encounter with the viridescent power of Wicked was through the sliding door of a suburban dance studio. Face pressed against the glass, I strained to hear the optimistic refrains of ‘One Short Day’, eyes bulging and dopamine levels skyrocketing. So widespread is the pop-cultural impact of this fan favourite musical, that half of Melbourne likely has a similar memory of discovering Wicked.  This faithful revival of the bewitching blockbuster sees the show fly into Melbourne for the third time in 15 years with an abundance of pine-hued pizazz, after celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Broadway premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. It’s also worth noting that the Gregory Maguire novel that forms the basis of the plot was published back in 1995. After all this time, it’s only fair to check in and ask: does Wicked remain evergreen? The costumes, choreography and sets are as slick as they come, which is exactly what’s expected from a show that’s had this many chances to get it ‘right’. This version of Wicked is not reinventing the wheel – instead it’s the cast who keep the cogs turning in a fresh way.   There’s no mistaking that these performers are magical. While Melbourne always loves to get a show before Sydney, our advantage here is that the cast has had time to fully take command of their characters – and they’re flourishing.  Courtney Monsma’s G(a)linda is slap-your-knees, let-out-a-squeal funny. She re-shapes the virtue-signalling mean girl role and makes Glinda

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  • Film
  • Outdoor cinema
  • Melbourne

It's officially that time of year again when the Moonlight Cinema returns to Melbourne for the summer. There's just something special about snuggling into a bean bag and catching a film under the stars in the Royal Botanic Gardens – with an ice cream or wine in hand, of course.  Australia's favourite outdoor cinema has revealed its March line-up of movies, with blockbusters, nostalgic favourites and plenty of romcoms on the program. Highlights include The Iron Claw, Wonka, All Of Us Strangers, Dune: Part Two and Poor Things. Those looking to splurge can opt for either the Platinum Experience, which includes a deluxe double bean bed for two with waiter service and a hamper of goodies from Victoria's High Country or the AAMI Gold Grass Experience, with a range of food and beverages delivered straight to your bean bag. And new this year is the Official Aperol Spritz Bar, where you can sip on the iconic orange cocktail all summer long. Screenings kick off at sundown (around 8.45pm) and even your pooch is welcome. Tickets are now available via the website. A new in-cinema diner that takes 'dinner and a movie' to the next level has just opened in Brunswick East.

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Drama
  • Melbourne

In Patrick Hamilton’s now eighty-year-old tale of deceit there’s nothing scarier than a maid walking around a cluttered Victorian living room lighting gaslights for the evening.  Gaslight’s simple approach to Gothic melodrama made it a runaway success when it premiered in 1938. And after Ingrid Bergman’s iconic 1944 film adaptation, ‘gaslight’ became a shorthand for attempting to convince someone that their reality is wrong. Now, there’s not a ‘gaslight, girlboss, gatekeep’ said that doesn’t implicitly recall Hamilton’s classic tale. And as this arresting new adaptation from writers Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson shows, Hamilton’s script still has much to offer, and plenty to fear. Bella (Geraldine Hakewill) is our girlboss. Mourning her mother and father, she meets the charismatic Jack Manningham (Toby Schmitz) who she quickly marries. But soon after the pair move to London Bella is haunted by bumps in the night and flickering gaslights. “Unfortunate delusions”, her husband calls them. But, despite his attempts to convince her of her madness, Bella eventually finds the source of these nightly horrors; more monstrous for having an intimate, and very real source. Hamilton’s script is balanced on a knife’s edge between emotions and styles; switching from humour to horror. Daphne Du Maurier-like Gothic melodrama is interspersed with Hitchcock whodunnit, and pulpy horror with careful precision. Like turning on that gaslight, it takes a steady hand to balance these complex affin

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  • Art
  • Installation
  • St Kilda

If you had 30 minutes to spend with yourself surrounded by nothing but darkness and the rain, what would you do? This is something the Rain Room by luxe hotel Jackalope and London-based collective Random International wants us to consider. The exhibition has reopened its sliding doors for its third season and invites us to all take a moment for ourselves to practice mindfulness and embrace the present in the rain. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Rain Room is an immersive artwork by Random International that fills the ceiling of a darkened room with motion sensors and little droplets of recycled water that imitate rain. The result? An experience that you can walk through slowly without getting a single drop of water on you, even though you’re surrounded by what feels like a storm. The experience stimulates your senses and if you’ve ever been caught in the rain in Southeast Asia, this evokes a similar feeling. It’s slightly warm as the sound of falling rain crescendos but if you walk an inch too quickly you’ll feel the sensation of getting tapped on the head by water.  ‘Rain Room’ is one of Random International’s most famous works and has previously been shown at the Barbican in London, MoMA in New York and at the Yuz Museum in Shanghai.  Also, a word to the wise: make sure not to wear heels or shoes that you will slip in or you might end up wearing a pair of Crocs that the team hands to you instead.   Rain Room will be open until the end of March, 2024. Book your se

  • Things to do
  • Talks and discussions
  • Southbank

Miriam Margolyes, the naughty national treasure shared by both Britain and Australia, is gracing us all with her presence Down Under this March. After releasing not one but two acclaimed books, Margolyes is touring Australia and New Zealand on the back off her bestselling second tome, titled Oh Miriam! Stories from an Extraordinary Life, which is part self-help book, part memoir. Once best known for her character acting roles (including Professor Sprout in Harry Potter), TV appearances (Blackadder, Call the Midwife) and voice acting (Babe, Happy Feet), Margolyes has more recently drawn renown for dropping jaw-droppingly juicy stories from her eventful life. Oh Miriam! Live is a new stage show where the eponymous star is let loose to relate her favourite anecdotes and impart never-before-told stories and life lessons, based on her 82 years of uproarious adventures. The show is named for a phrase that has been said to Miriam “a lot over the years, often in tones of strong disapproval”, she says.  Audiences can expect hilarious revelations covering everything from being fed cockroaches by Steve Buscemi to being farted on by Arnold Schwarzenegger, alongside some moving moments and genuine advice, too. The show’s tour will kick off in Auckland on March 11, with stops in Perth and Adelaide before hitting Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on Friday, March 22. After one eventful night in Melbourne, there will also be shows in Canberra, Newcastle and Sydney. Tickets range in price fr

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  • Art
  • Sculpture and installations
  • price 0 of 4
  • Southbank

Robotic dogs. Yoko Ono. A dragon-imprinted McDonald's sign. Tracey Emin. After years of waiting, the NGV Triennial truly is back and better than ever. In an electric fusion of contemporary art, design and architecture, the 2023 iteration will feature more than 75 projects and invites us to reflect on the world as it is while asking how we would like it to be. Running from December 3 to April 7, 2024, the three key thematic pillars are 'Magic, Matter and Memory', and you can expect the works from 100 artists, designers and collectives to traverse all four levels of NGV International. The line-up features artists from around the world, such as Sheila Hicks (USA), Agnieszka Pilat (Poland), Tracey Emin (UK), Betty Muffler (Australia), David Shrigley (UK), Yoko Ono (Japan), Shakuntala Kulkarni (India), Tao Hui (China), Schiaparelli (France) and more.  With more than 25 world-premiere projects commissioned by the NGV exclusively for this exhibition, the Triennial will reveal the ways in which leading and emerging artists and designers have responded to the most relevant and critical global issues of our time.  Agnieszka Pilat will train Boston Dynamics robot dogs to paint autonomously, and audiences will be able to see these dogs paint a monolithic durational work. In a special collaboration with Paris haute couture house Schiaparelli, the NGV has invited artist director Daniel Roseberry to present a selection of works from recent collections alongside a number of gilded surrealist

  • Things to do
  • Exhibitions
  • Carlton

The world's most extensive and authentic exhibition about the famed (and doomed) Titanic will sail into Melbourne Museum this December. Coming directly from a sold-out run in Paris, Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition will transport visitors inside the famous ship more than a century after its demise via an intricate recreation of its hallowed halls that feature real relics.  Melburnians will have the chance to step back in time to the year 1912, collecting a boarding pass to relive the historic day when the Titanic embarked on its ill-fated maiden voyage. Inside the exhibition are meticulous recreations of the ship’s interiors, including the grand staircase, first-class parlour suite and verandah café. For fans of the beloved James Cameron film, this is a chance to be immersed in the settings that inspired some truly iconic cinematic moments.  The landmark exhibition will also include more than 200 genuine artefacts retrieved from the site of the shipwreck in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, many of them possessions of the passengers and crew onboard. Visitors will be able to dive into the human stories of the people who took the fateful voyage, exposing the eye-opening reality of the infamous tragedy. It's sure to provide an incredible insight into the harsh truth of the Titanic – but unfortunately, it won’t give any further intel as to whether both Jack and Rose could have fit on the door.  'Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition' opened exclusively at Melbourne Museum on December

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