Overview
Wednesday nights in Melbourne mean one thing: hitting up the Queen Victoria Market's usual midweek — and after-dark — offering. During winter, it celebrates the frosty season with an appropriate spread. Across spring this year, it teamed up with the Melbourne Fringe Festival. With the warm weather upon us for another year, QVM is bringing back its legendary Summer Night Market.
Just like last year's Summer Night Market, the event is returning every Wednesday from November 20, 2024–, March 12, 2025 (excluding December 25 and January 1). Melburnians can look forward to a fresh 15-week run and to a heap of places to browse, buy from, eat at and sip drinks from, with over 100 different shops, stalls and bars on the lineup.
Each week, the Summer Night Market will feature an impressive lineup of food vendors slinging street eats from every corner of the globe. We're talking Filipino skewers from B-Boys BBQ, pita pockets from The Cypriot Kitchen, Japanese pancakes from Kicca Okonomiyaki, meatball subs and loaded nachos from Mr Baller, lamb jollof from Ama's Delight, and fried chicken and spicy buffalo wings from For Fried Sake.
Dessert warriors should also hit up Lickt for decadent brownie gelato sandwiches and Casa Nata for traditional Portuguese custard tarts. This short list of things to eat at the market only skims the surface of what's on offer, so be sure to take your time exploring each of the stalls before deciding what to get.
Then for booze, you'll find beers from Brick Lane, vino from Rewine, and a bunch of summery spritzes from Bella Spritz — think limoncello, grapefruit, lime and elderflower. The Happiness is Mojito Bar is also setting up at the night market each Wednesday night, serving up watermelon mojito slushies right by the Margarita Station, Beach Bar and Schweppes Caravan.
As always, you can fight it out over seats — either getting in early or hovering over punters who look like they're about to leave — or you can try the new VIP area. Here, you can score a seat for $10 per person when booking a table for two, four or six people. We prefer the everyone is an equal situation (that's kind of the point at a public market), but plenty of folks will be happy to have this option.
As always, there'll be a program of live, local tunes to soundtrack your food-focused wanderings, including DJ sets and roving performers. Through December (except for Chrismtas Day), the Queen Vic Market's Summer Night Market will also be going full Christmas with roaming Santas and hourly snow fall by the Queen Street Christmas tree.
And, for a little midweek shopping action, see the diverse range of artisan stalls, which will be brimming with an array of handmade gifts, homewares, fashion and more.
