Updated Thursday 1 October 2026 · inner north first, then anywhere within about 40km.
96 things worth doing
Local history
Fairfield Park Boathouse, where next Saturday’s Big Birrarung Paddle starts, began in 1908 as the idea of John St Clair, a Fitzroy piano tuner who wrote to the Premier proposing a riverside refreshment room and boat shed. The site was actually on the grounds of the Yarra Bend Hospital for the Insane, so the hospital had to sign off first. After seven years of trouble with the Crown bailiffs over permits, Heidelberg council bought him out in 1915, and in 1923 the whole boathouse was raised 12 feet to escape the Yarra’s floods. It closed in 1980 as unfit for habitation, housing squatters and possums, until a 30,000-hour restoration reopened it in 1985.
Distillation — Luke Casserly’s olfactory performance about an Irish bog
An Irish performance-maker worked with a perfumer to bottle the smell of the Midlands bog he grew up on, and builds a live encounter around it — a response to the closure of Ireland’s peat industry. Premiered at Dublin Theatre Festival 2023 and toured Ireland, the US and Canada; here as part of Melbourne Fringe.
WhenThu 1 – Sun 4 October · sessions from 2pm to 8.30pm
Till the Day I Die — Odets’ once-banned anti-fascist play, staged on a truck
Banned in Australia in 1936 at Nazi Germany’s request, the play was first performed off the back of a truck to dodge the ban. Ninety years on, Katie Sfetkidis and Mark Wilson stage it the same way, outdoors at Trades Hall, with a post-show discussion on the Saturday.
WhenThu 1 – Sun 4 Oct · Check session times
WhereTrades Hall car park, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton · maps
PriceSee Fringe
Getting thereTram 1 or 6 down Lygon St, about 20 minutes.
Check first. Fringe’s page showed no bookable sessions when checked on 29 Sep — may be sold out or not yet loaded. Outdoors, goes ahead in any weather.
Friends of Merri Creek — Friday working bee at Coburg Lake
A standing weekly volunteer session restoring the creek banks around Coburg Lake — weeding, planting, a chat over morning tea. A gentle start to a Friday, and the kind of group where you start recognising faces after a couple of visits.
Heide — volunteer-guided tour of Brassaï: Secret Paris
A standing Friday and Saturday 2pm walk-through of Brassaï's 1930s Paris night photographs with one of Heide's volunteer guides — the easy way to get more out of the show than a solo lap. Pairs with lunch at Heide Kitchen and the free sculpture park.
WhenFridays & Saturdays · 2pm
WhereHeide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen · maps
PriceGallery entry $27 adult / $22 concession (tour appears to be included — check)
Getting there15-minute drive, or ride the Main Yarra Trail (about 40 min). North East Link works are disrupting Bulleen Rd.
Check first. Heide's tour pages don't state a separate tour price; assumed included with gallery entry. Confirm at the desk.
Krefft's glider hollow check at Willsmere Billabong (Boroondara Riverfest)
Council ecologists use hollow cameras to check for the resident Krefft's gliders along the billabong — the same citizen-science monitoring they run monthly, done here as part of Riverfest. Billed for older children and adults; the family activities around it start at 4.30pm and are easy to skip.
WhenFri 2 Oct · 4–5pm
WhereWillsmere Park, 27 Willow Grove (junction of Main Yarra and Darebin Creek trails), Kew East · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereRide the Darebin Creek Trail south — about 20 minutes.
Check first. FULLY BOOKED as of 27 Sep — waitlist only. The wider Boroondara Riverfest afternoon is family-oriented; this walk is the adult-friendly part.
An 18+ standing Friday-night series — What's in the Sky Tonight plus a themed fulldome show (October's is Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon), with a bar on site. Uncommon adults-only planetarium format.
WhenFridays in October (except 23rd) · doors 7pm, sessions 7:30pm & 9pm
A History of Photography — three-Saturday course at NGV with Daniel Palmer
RMIT’s Prof. Daniel Palmer walks through photography’s history using the NGV’s own collection (Man Ray, Cartier-Bresson, Lange, Goldin, Moffatt), with a working artist each week: Jahkarli Romanis, Katrin Koenning, Patrick Pound. A real class over three Saturdays, so you get to know the room.
WhenSat 3, 10 & 17 Oct · 10.30am–1.30pm
WhereThe Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square, Melbourne CBD · maps
Price$450 ($400 members)
Getting there20 min by train from Croxton/Northcote to Flinders St.
Check first. One enrolment covers all three Saturdays; check seats remain before Saturday.
Indonesian Horror Film Festival — five films in a day at the Capitol
A one-day marathon of Indonesian horror — village curses, black-magic rituals, folk ghosts — with filmmaker Q&As, in one of Melbourne’s great 1920s cinemas. Drop in for one film or stay for the lot.
Nature Journaling in the Drylands — drawing workshop in the Botanic Gardens
Soft Meadow Collective leads a guided session of drawing, writing and close looking in the gardens’ dry-country plantings, alongside their Field Furniture installation for Design X Nature. South of the river, but it’s drawing plus nature — squarely on brief.
WhenSat 3 Oct · 11am–1pm
WhereAustralian Drylands Precinct, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne (South Yarra side) · maps
Price$40 / $35 concession
Getting thereTram 8 or 58 from the city, or about 25 minutes by car.
Seeing the Light on the Birrarung — artist-led photography by canoe
Photographer Asher Milgate and Up the Creek take a small group out on the river by canoe for a late-afternoon session on seeing light, reflection and movement — phone or camera, no experience needed. A photography workshop on the water, ten minutes from home.
WhenSat 3 Oct · 3–6pm
WhereFairfield Park Dr (canoe launch near Fairfield Boathouse), Fairfield · maps
PriceFree (Riverfest, registration required)
Getting thereRide along the Merri and Yarra trails — about 15 minutes.
Check first. BOOKED OUT as of 25 Sep (Riverfest program) — waitlist only. Weather-dependent; needs moderate mobility to get in and out of a canoe.
She Shapes History — the women of the Abbotsford Convent
A two-hour walking tour by feminist history collective She Shapes History through rarely opened corners of the Convent, tracing the women and girls who lived and laboured in its laundries. Pairs naturally with Aretha Brown’s show in the Magdalen Laundry.
WhenEvery Sat & Sun · 2pm (2 hours)
WhereAbbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford · maps
PriceTicketed — see Abbotsford Convent
Getting thereRide down the Merri and Yarra trails, or train to Victoria Park — about 20 min.
Check first. Price not shown in search results — check at booking.
Shy Peoples Drawing Club — Saturday drop-in drawing
A 2,600-member drop-in drawing group for introverts — any medium, any level, no pressure to talk. The Saturday session is a low-stakes way to start a day drawing alongside other people.
Getting thereUpfield train to Brunswick or a 20-minute ride.
Check first. Sat 3 Oct is confirmed on Meetup (moves to Brunswick Library or cancels if it rains). Sat 10 Oct follows the weekly pattern but isn’t posted yet — check Meetup.
Yarra Bend Park walk with Parks Victoria volunteers
A 5km, two-hour guided walk on dirt tracks through Yarra Bend Park with the park’s own volunteers, who point out the plants and animals along the way. Part of Riverfest.
WhenSat 3 & Sat 17 Oct · 10am–12pm
WhereMeet near Studley Park Boathouse, Yarra Bend Rd, Kew / Fairfield · maps
PriceFree (registration required)
Getting there15-minute drive, or ride the Merri and Yarra trails (about 25 min).
Check first. Check the meeting-point map on the event page before you go.
Cemetery Sketching — Shy Peoples Drawing Club at Melbourne General Cemetery
The introverts’ drawing club goes spooky: split up and sketch among the Victorian headstones, then regroup at 2.50pm to share what you drew. Any medium, any level.
WhenSun 4 Oct · 1pm, regroup 2.50pm to share work
WhereMelbourne General Cemetery, College Crescent, Carlton North / Parkville · maps
PriceFree
Getting there15-minute drive or ride; tram 1 or 6 to Lygon/Princes Park area then a walk.
Check first. Meeting spot is marked on a map in the Meetup event images — the gates are hard to find. Daylight saving starts that morning.
Friends of Merri Creek — litter clean-up, Brunswick East
Two hours pulling rubbish out of the creek you walk along — gloves and bags supplied, good company, visible result. Pairs with the afternoon water-testing session below.
Guided bird walk at Wilson Reserve with urban ecologist Dr Jacinta Humphrey
An early-morning bird ID walk through the riverside habitats of Wilson Reserve, led by a University of Melbourne urban-bird researcher. Bring binoculars. Hosted by Banyule Council as part of Riverfest.
WhenSun 4 Oct · 8–9.30am
WhereMeet at Chelsworth Park carpark, 4 Irvine Rd, Ivanhoe · maps
PriceFree (Riverfest, registration required)
Getting there10-minute drive or 20-minute ride via the Darebin Creek trail.
Check first. BOOKED OUT (re-checked 27 Sep on the Riverfest program) — waitlist only. Daylight saving starts that morning — 8am is the new time.
Heide on Sundays — architecture tour (11am) and "The Heide Story" history tour (2pm)
Two volunteer-led Sunday tours: at 11am, the design and construction of Heide II — the award-winning modernist house built as 'a gallery to be lived in' — and at 2pm the story of John and Sunday Reed and the artists' circle that gathered there. Do both with lunch in between and it's a full Sunday.
WhenSundays · 11am architecture · 2pm history
WhereHeide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen · maps
PriceGallery entry $27 adult / $22 concession (tours appear to be included — check)
Getting there15-minute drive, or ride the Main Yarra Trail (about 40 min). North East Link works are disrupting Bulleen Rd.
Check first. Tour price not stated on Heide's pages; assumed included with entry. North East Link roadworks around Bulleen Rd.
Melbourne Record Fair — 20,000+ records from the city’s vinyl dealers
A specialist dealers’ fair rather than a general market — crates from Melbourne’s best record sellers, DJs spinning vinyl all day. Go early for the good stuff.
Restoring Birrarung Country — community planting at Ramsden Street Reserve
Help plant 2,400 indigenous groundcovers and shrubs along the Merri Merri corridor, guided by Yarra Council’s biodiversity officers, who explain the restoration techniques as you go. A proper hands-in-the-dirt morning, 10 minutes from home — good one to rope friends into. Part of Riverfest.
WhenSun 4 Oct · 10am–12pm
WhereRamsden Street Reserve, 91 Field St, Clifton Hill · maps
PriceFree (registration required)
Getting there10-minute ride down the Merri Creek trail, or 5 min drive.
Check first. Planting on sloping, uneven ground. Riverfest caps bookings at 2–4 per person.
StreamTeam — help test Merri Creek’s water quality
A monthly citizen-science session sampling and testing the creek’s water — a hands-on way to learn what’s actually in the Merri, a kilometre from your door. First Sunday of each month.
WhenSun 4 Oct · 2–3.30pm
WhereMerri Creek upstream of St Georges Rd bridge (enter from Miller St), Fitzroy North · maps
The Bats and the Birrarung — with Friends of Bats and Bushcare
A small-group morning with the volunteers who have cared for Yarra Bend’s flying-fox colony for 20+ years — bat ecology, some planting and an art activity, then tea and cake. Part of Riverfest.
WhenSun 4 Oct (rain date 11 Oct) · 10am–1pm
WhereVictorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-op, Yarra Bend Rd, Fairfield · maps
PriceFree (registration required)
Getting there15-minute drive or 25-minute ride.
Check first. Steep slope and bush tracks — not accessible for mobility aids. Daylight saving starts that morning.
Transients — Andrea Keller's recurring improv-jazz strand
A recurring Monday-night strand curated by pianist Andrea Keller pairing different improvising trios each time — a genuine standing series worth returning to, not a one-off.
WhenMondays, fortnightly · 7:30pm
WhereThe JazzLab, 27 Leslie St, Brunswick East · maps
Price$25–30
Getting there20 min drive from Northcote; or tram 19 then walk
World-premiere Deaf-led 'reimagining of opera' blending Auslan poetry, movement and immersive sound design — a genuinely novel form, with a post-show artist talk on Thu 8 Oct (Auslan/English interpreted).
WhenTue 6 – Sun 11 October · previews/evenings 7:30pm, Sat 2pm & 7:30pm, Sun 5pm
WhereArts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne · maps
A First Nations contemporary dance duet exploring saltwater/freshwater identity, with a ticketed post-show artist talk on the Saturday matinee — strong fit for both the theatre and artist-talk interest.
WhenWed 7 – Sat 10 October · preview Wed 7:30pm, opening Thu 7:30pm, Sat matinee 2pm + evening 7:30pm
WhereNorthcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High St, Northcote · maps
Price$38 full / $30 conc / $10 Blak Tix
Getting there10 min walk or bike from central Northcote
One-off reopening spectacle for the newly renovated State Theatre, directed by Michael Kantor with 100+ Victorian artists from The Australian Ballet, Opera Australia, MTC and Circus Oz, plus tours, DJ sets and a laser show — a genuine landmark one-off despite the big institutional backing.
WhenFri 9 – Mon 12 October · 7 sessions across the weekend, booking opens 10am
WhereArts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Southbank · maps
Eucalypts of the Diamond Creek — tree-ID walk with author Vicky Shukuroglou
A conversational walk along the Diamond Creek with the author of the ACE Guide to Eucalypts Melbourne — learning to read bark, buds, gumnuts and leaves until the gums stop looking the same. Part of Riverfest.
WhenSat 10 Oct · 10am–12pm
WhereEdendale Community Environment Farm, 30 Gastons Rd, Eltham · maps
PriceFree (registration required)
Getting there25-minute drive, or Hurstbridge line to Eltham then a 15-minute walk.
Friends of Merri Creek — woody weed whacking at Merri Park
Two hours of cutting back woody weeds along the creek a few minutes from home, with the local volunteer crew. The kind of standing group where faces become familiar.
Naarm artist collective Platform Presents' open-format birthday show -- 35+ artists across painting, textiles, new media, photography, sculpture and performance in six gallery spaces plus the courtyard. A distinctive one-off rather than a themed group show.
WhenSat 10 Oct (opening) & Sun 11 Oct (low-sensory day) · 2-8pm / 12-5pm
Sculpture Biennale artist talks — roving floor talks every weekend at noon
The exhibiting artists walk you round their own works. Saturday 10 Oct pairs Hannah Gartside’s talk with the Piercing the mist sound performance; Mira Gojak speaks on Sun 18. Free, just turn up.
Terry Smith on how contemporary artists picture the polycrisis
One of the best-known historians of contemporary art (author of What Is Contemporary Art?) gives a 90-minute lecture on “world picturing”: how artists are trying to picture a planet in overlapping crises.
WhenSat 10 Oct · 3–4.30pm
WhereNGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Southbank · maps
PriceTicketed (see NGV)
Getting thereTrain to Flinders St, then 5-minute walk over the river.
Check first. Ticket price not shown on the listing page; check when booking.
The Big Birrarung Paddle — Riverfest’s biggest river clean-up, with Sammy J
A community clean-up of the Yarra on foot or by boat, with prizes for the most rubbish and the weirdest find, then a picnic on the lawn or lunch at the 1908 boathouse. Local, silly, useful — a good one to round up friends for.
WhenSat 10 Oct · 10am–12pm (paddlers check in 9.30am)
WhereFairfield Park Boathouse & Tea Gardens, Fairfield Park Dr, Fairfield · maps
PriceFree (registration required)
Getting there15-minute ride or a 25-minute walk down to the river from Northcote.
Check first. Paddlers must attend the 9.30am safety briefing. Bookings capped at 4 tickets.
Banyule Open Studios weekend — artists open their own studios
Dozens of working artists in Heidelberg-School country open their home and backyard studios for a weekend — you wander between them, see work in progress and talk to the people who made it. The launch party is Fri 9 Oct, 7pm, at the Old Shire Offices, 60 Beverly Rd, Heidelberg. Easy to do in a group with a car and a list of favourites.
WhenSat 10 & Sun 11 Oct · 10am–5pm both days
WhereStudios across Banyule — map in the BOS app, Heidelberg / Ivanhoe / Eaglemont · maps
PriceFree
Getting there10–20 minutes by car; Hurstbridge line to Ivanhoe or Heidelberg for the closer studios.
Check first. The studio list and map are in the BOS app (Android link on the site) and on the Artist Locations page — plan your route before you go.
Creating Community — Australian Queer Archives × NGV for Coming Out Day
Queer creatives draw on the NGV Collection and the Australian Queer Archives’ holdings to talk about how LGBTIQA+ people found each other and built safe spaces before and after Gay Liberation. Free, with a history focus rather than a party.
WhenSun 11 Oct · 1–2.30pm
WhereThe Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (Theatre), Fed Square, Melbourne CBD · maps
PriceFree (booking required)
Getting there20 min by train from Croxton/Northcote to Flinders St.
Friends of Merri Creek — hand weeding at Strettle Wetland
A quiet Sunday morning helping look after the small wetland off the Merri Creek trail — careful hand weeding among the indigenous plantings, with people who know the site well.
Chogh چوغ, and three more — Bundoora Homestead Art Centre
Chogh brings together six Australian-Hazara artists on migration, identity and belonging; alongside Heidi Schoenheimer's everyday-suburb paintings, Requiem in Power's memorial to trees felled for a solar farm, and Sally Ann McIntyre's extinct-huia soundwork continuing from last month.
WhenOpen now, newly opened 24 Aug · Wed–Fri 11am–4pm · Sat 10am–4pm
WhereBundoora Homestead Art Centre, 7 Prospect Hill Dr, Bundoora · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereTram 86 to stop 63 then 550m on foot — about 40 minutes door to door.
5-hour hands-on black & white film development and darkroom printing class — no experience needed. A standing offering worth returning to; a $35/week membership is also available for graduates.
WhenRuns most weekends — next date not confirmed · Typically 10am–3pm
WhereBrunswick Darkroom, 91 Nicholson St, Brunswick East · maps
Price$250
Getting thereTram 19 up Sydney Rd then a short walk, or about 20 minutes by bike from Northcote.
Check first. No publicly browsable booking calendar found this run — confirm the next open date directly with the venue before planning around it.
Queer Histories, Queer Futures -- self-guided audio walk
A 14-episode geolocated audio walk through Brunswick and Coburg's queer history -- Pentridge Prison, drag at Brunswick pubs, a beat murder at Clifton Park, Queer Nation activism, tram depot organising. Serious and specific, not generic Pride content.
WhenAny day (self-guided) · Flexible, ~90 min
WhereStarts near Brunswick Library, cnr Dawson St & Sydney Rd, Brunswick · maps
PriceFree
Getting there~15 min drive from Northcote, or train to Brunswick station.
A self-guided sound walk across the Convent grounds by Japanese sound artist Akio Suzuki (Documenta, British Museum) with dancer Hiromi Miyakita -- a map-and-journal kit for slow, deliberate listening to the site. Genuinely unusual, not a typical activation.
WhenAny day to 31 Dec (self-guided) · Daylight hours, 45-60 min
WhereAbbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford · maps
Price$5
Getting there~15-20 min drive from Northcote, or bus/tram plus a walk from Victoria Park station.
Check first. Kit is collected from the Convent office, Mon-Fri 9am-4pm only -- confirm opening hours before visiting on a weekend.
Group show by Banyule's community of open-studio artists in the library's own gallery, previewing who's opening their doors at October's full Open Studios weekend (10–11 Oct).
WhenOpen now, to Sun 13 Sep · Library hours
WhereLoft 275 Gallery, Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub, 275 Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereAbout 20 minutes by car, or train to Ivanhoe (Hurstbridge line) then a short walk.
A repertory season spanning four decades of Japanese anime centring female protagonists -- 4K screenings of Princess Mononoke and Angel's Egg, plus Millennium Actress, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Belle and Suzume.
A retrospective season of Scottish director Lynne Ramsay's films (Ratcatcher, We Need to Talk About Kevin) — proper repertory programming, not new-release multiplex fare.
Cheap, high-calibre solo recitals by Australian National Academy of Music's graduating musicians -- intimate single-instrument programs (cello, trumpet, bassoon, tuba) in a heritage auditorium.
When7-23 Sep (multiple sessions) · 11am / 1.30pm / 3.30pm on scheduled days
Group show of First Peoples artists working in game development, animation, illustration and screen-based media — a distinct digital-art angle for a gallery usually known for painting and photography.
Poetry Goes No Further Than Language — 1980s Chinese conceptual art at Buxton Contemporary
Seldom-seen experiments by Beijing’s New Measurement Group and Shanghai’s Qian Weikang — artists who questioned every assumption about art in mid-1980s China — shown in Australia for the first time, with a new commission by Darcey Bella Arnold. Closes next Saturday.
Debut solo exhibition by Gumbaynggirr artist and muralist Aretha Brown (KISS MY ART Collective, National Indigenous Art Triennial) -- an explicitly queer, Blak, unsentimental exploration of love and romance. Opening night 25 Sep has live sets from Nate Lust, Milika and Caution.
Between Love and Hate — new paintings by Louis Howcroft
A three-day show of a Melbourne painter’s newest work — layered, cut-back, deliberately unresolved surfaces that borrow the texture of laneway walls. Easy to pair with BORN ROMANTIC and Distillation on the same Convent visit.
Zdeněk Liška, Composer and Co-Auteur Extraordinaire
A new Cinémathèque season on the prolific Czech film composer Zdeněk Liška -- his experimental electronic scores for animation and sci-fi -- presented with the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia, closing with the 2017 documentary Music by Zdeněk Liška.
unbound — Gallery Unbound's third birthday group show
A small artist-cooperative gallery on the High St strip marking three years with a members' group show. Low-key, local, and on your doorstep — worth a detour on any High St walk before it closes.
WhenNow until 11 Oct · Gallery hours — check site
WhereGallery Unbound, 497 High St, Northcote · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereOn the High St strip — walk or 86 tram.
Check first. Tracked on the watchlist since 31 Aug but never carried onto a week page until now. The gallery's page returned empty this run, so hours are unconfirmed.
Illicit Attachments: The Clandestine Cinema of Marcel Carné
A repertory season of French poetic-realist director Marcel Carné's films — genuine curated cinema, following straight on from the Cinémathèque's current Zdeněk Liška season.
Platypus and People beside Birrarung — stories and weaving at the old Alphington pool
Merri Creek Management Committee hosts a slow riverside morning: Angela Foley on the lives of the Birrarung's platypus and short-finned eels, then weaving small creatures from wool and grasses. 15+ only.
WhenThu 15 Oct · 10–11.30am
WhereMeet at the bottom of View St, Alphington Wetlands, Alphington · maps
PriceFree (Riverfest, registration required)
Getting thereRide 10 minutes, or train to Alphington and walk.
Trans-specific exhibition opening plus community workshops (Queers Draw This, ArtKind) and a trans makers market — artist-led and specific, not just a calendar-tie-in event.
WhenFriday 16 October · details tbc
WhereNewlands Neighbourhood House, 20 Murray Rd, Coburg North · maps
PriceFree (unconfirmed — check listing)
Getting there15 min drive from Northcote
Check first. Price and exact program not fully confirmed at time of listing — check Merri-bek's page closer to the date.
Ten days of jazz, improvisation and boundary-pushing contemporary music across the city — direct hit for Mark's jazz interest, though venue/session program not yet checked in detail.
Commemorative Memory Acts — a performance (Requiem in Power)
A live performance by the artists of Requiem in Power (RIP), the exhibition memorialising mature trees felled for the La Trobe Solar Farm alongside neighbouring Preston Cemetery — a one-off enactment of the show's themes of ecological grief and ritual, not just a floor talk.
WhenSat 17 October, 1–2pm · 1–2pm
WhereBundoora Homestead Art Centre, 7 Prospect Hill Dr, Bundoora · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereTram 86 to stop 63 then 550m on foot — about 40 minutes door to door.
A community forum with the Yarra Riverkeeper Association, Traditional Owners and researchers on the future of Melbourne's rivers, creeks and wetlands, part of RESET and Birrarung Riverfest.
Jazz Legends on Film — Coltrane live in 1965 + Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
A free outdoor double: the rare broadcast of Coltrane’s classic quartet (Tyner, Garrison, Elvin Jones) at Comblain-la-Tour in 1965, then the Miles Davis documentary with unseen archival footage. Part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Leyla Stevens turns from her usual moving-image work to sculpture, drawing and prints, built from material details of her family's temple in Kuta, south Bali.
WhenOpen now, to 17 Oct · Tue–Sat 11am–5pm
WhereGertrude Contemporary, 21-31 High St, Preston South · maps
PriceFree
Getting there10 minutes by car, or about 20 minutes by bike from Northcote.
Melbourne Ceramic Fair — 80+ ceramic artists at Northcote Town Hall
A makers-run fair on the High St strip with over 80 ceramicists selling one-off tableware, jewellery and sculptural pieces — a good way to see who's working in clay locally, and a natural follow-on for anyone doing the Bisque/Slow Clay classes.
WhenSat 17 & Sun 18 Oct · Check site for hours
WhereNorthcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High St, Northcote · maps
PriceCheck site
Getting thereWalk or 86 tram — you're practically there.
Check first. Dates confirmed on the organiser's homepage (17–18 Oct 2026); opening hours and entry price weren't visible to this run.
Women of Boroondara — History behind the Hedges walking tour
A guided walking tour tracing the trailblazing women who shaped Boroondara — mechanic Alice Anderson, artist AME Bale and others — from the cemetery to Town Hall Gallery. Genuine local heritage storytelling, not a tourist-trail tour.
WhenSelected Fri/Sat, 11 Sep – 17 Oct · 10am–12pm
WhereBoroondara General Cemetery, 430 High St, Kew · maps
Price$60 ($40 ages 13–17)
Getting thereTram/bus to Kew via Studley Park Rd, or drive — about 20–25 minutes from Northcote.
“Meet You Under The Clocks” — Suzanne Phoenix’s Naarm photo walk
A small-group street-photography walk through arcades, laneways and odd corners, led by a photographer who has documented the city for over a decade (her projects include Queer Naarm). Any camera works, including a phone.
WhenSat 17 Oct · 10.30am–12.30pm
WhereUnder the clocks, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne CBD · maps
Outdoor installation of biodegradable brick sculptures birds can peck apart for nesting material, built from a decade of Wildlife Victoria rescue data on how species use Melbourne's buildings — a genuine design/nature crossover, not generic public art.
When25 Sep – 18 Oct · outdoor installation, any time
Wiradjuri choreographer Joel Bray’s participatory installation, built around the campfire as a place of gathering, storytelling and ceremony. Drop in any time; stay for the sunset dance ritual that ushers in dusk. The centrepiece of Fringe’s free program.
WhenDaily, 29 Sep – 18 Oct · open daily · sunset ritual each evening
StreetBeats — Australian Association of Street Photographers’ annual show
A curated show of street photography by members of the national street-photographers’ association, hung in a film-camera shop. Small and specialist, and a good lead-in to AASP’s own photo walks if you want to join a group.
An 18+ after-hours museum takeover — magician, planetarium show, UV-lit exhibition, DJ. Genuinely adults-only, not family programming with a spooky sticker on it.
Melbourne Sculpture Biennale: Soft Systems — at Billilla Mansion
New sculpture by Mira Gojak, Lou Hubbard, Isadora Vaughan, Lauren Berkowitz, Hannah Gartside and others, installed through an 1878 Arts and Crafts mansion and its gardens. Free, and only on for three weeks.
A full Wagner opera (German with English subtitles, two-piano reduction, ~3 hours) staged intimately in a suburban town hall by BK Opera — an unusually ambitious, high-quality booking for the venue.
WhenThu 29 & Sat 31 October · 7:30pm
WhereNorthcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High St, Northcote · maps
Price$95 standard / $70 conc / $30 under-30s
Getting there10 min walk or bike from central Northcote
A one-night atmospheric tour through Pentridge's notorious H Division — genuinely specific and uncommon (a heritage/history tour with real content, not a generic haunted-house activation), even though it's built around Halloween.
Making Memoir of a Snail — Adam Elliot's handmade claymation sets and puppets
Sets, props, puppets and hand-drawn storyboards from the Oscar-winning Melbourne animator's stop-motion feature — including his clay versions of Brunswick Street and Luna Park. Every object is real (no CGI), and seeing the scale of them is the point. Free, 20 minutes.
A Royal Historical Society of Victoria exhibition on the colonial land-grab that produced central Melbourne's street grid — still open through the whole of this window.
When26 Mar – 11 Nov 2026 · gallery hours
WhereRoyal Historical Society of Victoria, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne CBD · maps
PriceCheck listing
Getting there20 min by train from Croxton/Northcote
Heide — Brassaï: Secret Paris, plus three more shows and the sculpture park
Brassaï’s night photographs of 1930s Paris — its bars, brothels, lovers and street life — alongside Watch These Hands (to 25 Oct), Ken Whisson and John Foubister’s Going Back In, and the newly opened Personal Effects. A full photography-and-gardens morning, and a lunch at Heide Kitchen if you want one.
WhenBrassaï on until 15 Nov · Sat–Sun 10am–5pm · Tue–Fri 10am–4pm
WhereHeide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen · maps
Price$27 adult · $22 concession · gardens and sculpture park free
Getting there15-minute drive, or ride the Main Yarra Trail (about 40 min).
Check first. Opening hours are from a secondary listing, not Heide’s own page; confirm Grand Final Friday opening. North East Link works are disrupting Bulleen Rd.
Fitzroy History Society: Mario DePasquale on 35 years of Mario's, Brunswick St
The co-founder of Mario's Cafe (1986–2021) tells the story of the Brunswick Street institution and life before and after it, as guest speaker at the local history society's AGM dinner.
WhenTue 24 Nov · Evening (dinner, short AGM, then talk)
Early Impressions: Painters of the Heidelberg School
National Gallery of Australia paintings by Streeton, Southern, Buvelot, Conder and Roberts, on long-term loan and hand-picked for scenes of Heidelberg — the Heidelberg School brought back to Heidelberg.
WhenOpened 26 Aug, long-term loan · Library hours
WhereLoft 275 Gallery, Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub, 275 Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereAbout 20 minutes by car, or train to Ivanhoe then a short walk.
Check first. Sources disagree on the closing date (one says Jan 2027, another Aug 2027) — treat as long-running and check before a late visit.
Feng Mengbo: Long March Restart — a playable videogame artwork of Chinese history
A landmark piece of interactive art, shown in Melbourne for the first time: a Red Army soldier side-scrolls across two giant screens through a Super Mario and Street Fighter-style Long March. You can play it or just watch. Pairs well with the Adam Elliot show upstairs.
Two of Australia's leading bushfire scientists (Trent Penman, Uni Melbourne; Phil Zylstra, Curtin) debate Australia's fire future, moderated by ABC RN's Gregg Borschmann.
WhenMon 21 Sep · 6.05-7.30pm (doors 6pm)
WhereRoyal Society of Victoria, 8 La Trobe St, Melbourne · maps
PriceCheck Humanitix
Getting there~20-25 min drive from Northcote, or train to Melbourne Central.
Check first. Ticket price wasn't shown on the RSV page this run -- check the Humanitix link.
The Gallery Series: Erica Bramham — double bass & vocals
Melbourne composer/vocalist/double bassist Erica Bramham (Music Victoria Awards nominee) works between song, soundscape and improvisation, looped and folded through electronics — free lunchtime concert in the gallery.
WhenWed 23 Sep · 1–2pm
WhereHawthorn Arts Centre, 360 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereTram 109 or drive via Johnston St/Studley Park Rd, about 20 minutes from Northcote.
Miles Nautu and his band play Triple R's Performance Space as part of its busiest Live at RRR season yet -- a genuinely non-touristy, independent Melbourne artist showcase.
WhenThu 24 Sep · Evening (time TBC)
WhereTriple R Performance Space, 221 Nicholson St, East Brunswick · maps
Getting thereTram 96 or bus to Nicholson St, or drive.
Check first. Access is via Triple R subscriber (or First Nations) giveaway, not open ticket sales -- entries reportedly open Fri 11 Sep. Confirm exact time and entry details on Triple R's site.
Melbourne Festival of Puppetry — late-night adults program
Melbourne's only puppetry festival runs a separate night program for grown-ups: seven handmade-puppet shows across a warehouse venue, with roving 'weirdos' between sessions. Highlights include Fran & Char's queer, kink-tinged Dr Pathicus' Unnatural Adventures (16+), Puppet Rats' darkly comic Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!, and a Fri/Sat 10.30pm Very Very Very Late Puppet Show cabaret.
WhenThu 24 – Sun 27 Sep · Shows from 6.30pm to 10.30pm, staggered across the night
Getting thereTram 1 or 6 down Lygon/Swanston then a short walk, or train to Flagstaff — about 30 min.
Check first. Price range ($25–35) is from Beat Magazine's preview, not the festival page itself — check at booking. Two of the upstairs rooms have no lift access.
Award-winning illustrator and journalist Sam Wallman (comics on workers' rights and border detention) on turning archival research into comics, ahead of his book All Out: Pink Bans and Blue Collars.
WhenThu 24 Sep · Evening (check site)
WhereVictorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel St, North Melbourne · maps
PriceCheck site
Getting there~20-25 min drive from Northcote, or train to North Melbourne station.
Check first. Exact time and price weren't confirmed directly on PROV's page this run -- check before booking.
Aquarium Society of Victoria — September meeting (YouTube panel + Q&A)
A standing monthly night of Victoria's oldest fish-keeping club, two kilometres from home — this month a panel of aquarium YouTubers taking questions. Genuinely niche hobbyist society, the kind of room where you start recognising faces after a couple of visits.
WhenFri 25 Sep · 7.30–10pm
WhereAquarium Society of Victoria clubrooms, 29 Grant St, Clifton Hill · maps
PriceCheck with ASOV (members' meeting, visitors usually welcome)
Getting thereRide down the Merri Creek trail or 86 tram to Queens Pde — 10 minutes.
Check first. The event page doesn't say whether non-members pay or need to register — ring or email ASOV before going. On the Grand Final public holiday.
Cactus Room: Queer Punk Disco Tech — Grand Final Afterparty
Queer-specific club night at the DIY warehouse bandroom, timed as the AFL Grand Final afterparty — local DJs and performers (James Seedy, Ding Ding Ding, Erica Carrot Collision Hole, Bradd Edwards) rather than a generic pub crawl.
Footy Shorts — five MIFF documentaries on the Big Screen
Five short docs from this year’s MIFF: a Chinese Australian team, the first openly queer ex-AFL player stepping back onto the field, African Australian AFLW stars, and the North Melbourne cheer squad. The footy is the frame, the stories are the point — and it’s after the siren, so the crowds should be thinning.
Cult monthly residency with an ever-changing line-up each time — a standing gig worth building a habit around rather than a one-off ticket. Lineup for this date not yet published.
WhenSat 26 Sep (monthly) · doors 7.30pm, show 8pm
WhereThe Jazzlab, 27 Leslie St, Brunswick East · maps
Price$40–$45
Getting thereAbout 20 minutes by car or bike from Northcote.
MESS Studio Tour — hands-on with a theremin, a Fairlight and other rare synths
A free guided tour of MESS's collection of historically significant electronic instruments — including a theremin built by Léon Theremin himself (c.1933) and Australia's own Fairlight CMI — which aren't kept behind glass. Led by artists and the studio's co-founders. Runs on the fourth Saturday of each month.
ASOV Fish Fair — breeders' market for fish, shrimp and aquarium plants
A quarterly hobbyist market devoted entirely to freshwater tropical aquariums: home-bred fish, shrimp in colour grades, rare aquarium plants and a room full of keepers happy to talk. Odd, specific and a very short trip — the society's own advice is to bring a cooler box.
WhenSun 27 Sep · 10am–1pm
WhereAquarium Society of Victoria, 29 Grant St, Clifton Hill · maps
PriceFree entry (stock for sale)
Getting thereRide down the Merri Creek trail or 86 tram to Queens Pde — 10 minutes.
Check first. Entry price isn't stated on the page; ASOV fairs have historically been free entry, but treat that as unconfirmed.
Elissa Goodrich Quartet — Gene Tree and a first preview of Waves & Bubbles
Vibraphonist-composer Elissa Goodrich leads a jazz/classical chamber quartet (woodwinds, electric guitar, double bass) through her award-winning Gene Tree music plus the first-ever preview of the unreleased Waves and Bubbles album. An hour in the Oratory on a Sunday afternoon — short, specific and quietly adventurous.
Drop-in life drawing with a live model and a themed still life -- no experience necessary, poses from 5 to 20 minutes, drawing boards provided. September's theme: springtime on the French Riviera.
WhenSun 27 Sep · 7pm–9pm
WhereThe Brunswick Green, 313 Sydney Rd, Brunswick · maps
PriceTicketed (check Eventbrite)
Getting thereTram 19 stops right outside; about 20 minutes from Northcote.
Hartbeats — Sunday afternoon jazz in Whitehart Lane (season finale)
The last of the September Sunday sessions: Soul Lane Sessions with Shantael Raphael, 3–7pm, then Brad Bellard and Horatio Luna with Amin Payne from 7pm. A laneway afternoon that drifts into the evening, with the music as the point rather than the bar.
WhenSun 27 Sep · from 3pm
WhereWhitehart Bar, 22 Whitehart Ln, Melbourne CBD · maps
PriceFree
Getting thereTrain to Flagstaff or Melbourne Central, then a short walk — about 30 min.
Melbourne Comic & Toy Fair — collectors’ fair at Narrandjeri Stadium
Rows of dealers selling vintage and modern action figures, vinyl, comics, posters and trading cards, with buy-sell-trade zones for haggling. A dealer-and-collector room rather than a kids’ day out — good browsing with a friend who has a childhood obsession to revisit.
Stellar Nights — Melbourne Observatory Guided Tour
Weekly guided tour through two of the Observatory's historic telescopes, with a chance to use a telescope yourself on the viewing lawn, led by ASV guides. Standing Monday series through to 30 Nov.
WhenMondays — next 28 Sep, then weekly to 30 Nov · 7.30pm
Colonisation of Birrarung in Suburban Naarm — 8km guided history walk
Boroondara Reconciliation Network leads a long river walk from Yarra Flats to East Kew through 200 years of colonial history — how this stretch of the Birrarung was surveyed, farmed, cleared and reshaped. Part of Birrarung Riverfest; finishes with a light lunch at Guide Dogs Victoria.
WhenWed 30 Sep · 8.30am–1.30pm (incl. lunch)
WhereYarra Flats Entry Rd (walk ends at the Wurundjeri Trail, East Kew), Eaglemont · maps
PriceFree (Riverfest, registration required)
Getting thereDrive 15 min, or train to Heidelberg and walk ~15 min to Yarra Flats — plan a one-way return from East Kew.
Check first. Riverfest bookings are capped at 2 tickets and often waitlisted — register early. Weekday morning. BOOKED OUT as of 25 Sep — waitlist only.