The Best Things to Do in Melbourne This Weekend
Hit up this beach club, enjoy prawn rolls and spritzes riverside or catch a local band.

The Best Things to Do in Melbourne This Weekend
Weekends are precious. Two glorious days devoid of responsibility and overflowing with possibility. Luckily, Melbourne's got plenty happening to make sure you don't spend the days indoors binge-watching Netflix and instead discovering new bars, absorbing art and feasting your way through food markets. Here are our picks of the weekend's happenings.
For information about COVID-19 in Victoria and current restrictions, head to the Victorian Government website.
Top image: The Exchange Beach Club
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Arts & Entertainment
Melbourne Book Market 2021
Swap your spare change for a stack of books every Saturday and Sunday at Queen Victoria Market.
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Arts & Entertainment
The Truffle Hunters
Leisurely and engaging, this documentary about elderly men and their dogs searching for truffles in Northern Italy serves up a rich and substantial cinematic meal.
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Arts & Entertainment
Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra
Celebrating Australia's acclaimed Indigenous dance theatre, this excellent documentary also steps through the nation's past and paints a portrait of three siblings with dreams as big as their talents.
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Arts & Entertainment
The Little Things
Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto co-star in this 90s-style serial killer thriller — and none of them will add new Oscars to their mantles for their efforts.
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Arts & Entertainment
Minari
Vivid, honest and tender, this resonant and moving drama stars Steven Yeun as a Korean American father and farmer chasing a better life for his family.
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Arts & Entertainment
Miss Juneteenth
Focusing on a mother encouraging her daughter to enter a beauty pageant for Black American teens, this keenly observed drama proves both tender and thoughtful.
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Food & Drink
Margarita Month at The Espy
Pop down to the St Kilda pub for fruity margs, Mexican-inspired bites and mariachi band performances.
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Arts & Entertainment
Another Round
Four teachers test a theory that humans actually need a constant supply of alcohol in their blood in this Oscar-shortlisted Danish drama.
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Arts & Entertainment
Assassins
Exploring a shocking 2017 assassination, this gripping true-crime documentary has to be seen to be believed.
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Arts & Entertainment
Synchronic
Starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, this sci-fi thriller follows two paramedics dealing with a trippy new designer drug.
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Arts & Entertainment
Untitled Day Party with Hayden James
Dancing and live music return to Port Melbourne's Timber Yard for a nine-hour day party.
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Arts & Entertainment
Transitions Film Festival 2021
Going virtual for the first time, this Australian film festival showcases documentaries about our changing world.
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Food & Drink
Zero Waste Warehouse Market
Stock up on olives, pulses, grains, honey and condiments — but you'll need to bring your own reusable containers.
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Arts & Entertainment
Jewish International Film Festival 2021
After sitting out 2020, the cinema showcase returns with 29 features, 19 documentaries and episodes from three TV series.
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Arts & Entertainment
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2021
This year's LGBTIQ+-focused festival will also screen online for the first time.
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Arts & Entertainment
PHOTO 2021 International Festival of Photography
This new photography festival will transform streets and spaces across Victoria into mini outdoor galleries.
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Food & Drink
Tipico's Pop-Up Passata Making Class
Tipico's head chef demonstrates the art of making perfect passata, at these free pop-up classes
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Arts & Entertainment
Rone in Geelong
Celebrated street artist Rone returns to his roots for an immersive new exhibition in Geelong.
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Food & Drink
Pooches & Prosecco
Have a day out with your pup — there will be lots of prosecco for you and heaps of treats for them.
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Food & Drink
The Piccolina Gelato Project: 8 Chefs in 8 Weeks
Eight chefs, eight weeks and 24 inventive new gelato flavours — including one made with caramelised radicchio.
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Food & Drink
Margarita Month 2021
Celebrate the salty-sour cocktail the right way — by drinking one (or a few).
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Food & Drink
Margarita Month
This month-long celebration of the humble margarita, featuring slushies, specials and free drinks.
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Travel & Leisure
Pick Your Own Sunflowers 2021
Spend a day frolicking through a field of sunflowers — and picking them.
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Food & Drink
Everleigh-After
This true feast for the senses is a collaboration between The Everleigh, Peter Gunn and new creative culinary concept SSIXX.
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Design & Style
Assembly Label Choose-What-You-Pay Sale 2021
Nab some new summer threads at up to 50 percent off.
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Arts & Entertainment
Mirka
St Kilda's Jewish Museum of Australia will be home to never-before-seen Mora works.
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Arts & Entertainment
Becoming You: An Incomplete Guide
This new exhibition celebrates real-life coming-of-age tales.
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Travel & Leisure
The Makers and Shakers Fitzroy North Community Market
This roaming makers market is popping up in Melbourne for a four-week summer series.
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Arts & Entertainment
Malthouse Outdoor Stage
An openair performance space and cultural hub has popped up in Malthouse Theatre's courtyard.
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Food & Drink
Yarra Kitchen & Bar
Enjoy signature spritz and fat prawn rolls, at this dog-friendly, riverside pop-up bar.
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Arts & Entertainment
Bathe-In Cinema at Peninsula Hot Springs 2021
Soak in the hot springs under the stars and in front of the big screen
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Arts & Entertainment
Shore Cinema Williamstown
Check out a movie by the water at Melbourne's newest outdoor cinema.
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Arts & Entertainment
Heide Summer Festival
An inaugural program of live tunes, storytelling, dance and performance takes over the museum's sculpture park for nine weeks.
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Food & Drink
Prosecco Bar Pop-Up
Indulge in loaded grazing boards and King Valley prosecco at Gertrude Street's pop-up summer terrace.
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Food & Drink
All-You-Can-Eat Meat and Cheese Boards
Feast your way through unlimited German cheese, charcuterie and pretzels.
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Arts & Entertainment
Fed Oasis
Fed Square is transforming into a greenery-filled oasis with a program of free film screenings, live music and workshops.
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Arts & Entertainment
Dude, It's a Coen Brothers Retrospective
It's screening everything from 'The Big Lebowski' and 'Fargo' to 'No Country for Old Men' and 'Inside Llewyn Davis'.
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Arts & Entertainment
Bondathon
Watch your way through all 24 official Bond movies to-date — all in the lead up to 'No Time to Die'.
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Food & Drink
Burrito Heaven at Carwyn Cellars
This summer, pair your Carwyn Cellars beer session with Mexican eats courtesy of the Little Tienda crew.
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Arts & Entertainment
Live at the Bowl
A two-month COVID-safe music festival at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl featuring the likes of Missy Higgins, Lime Cordiale and Birds of Tokyo performing with the MSO.
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Arts & Entertainment
Uptown: An Art Exhibition for Our City
This new exhibition turns the top of Bourke Street into an outdoor art gallery.
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Arts & Entertainment
Love & Neon: The Cinema of Wong Kar-Wai
ACMI and Sydney Film Festival are teaming up to screen 11 sumptuous films from the acclaimed Hong Kong director.
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Arts & Entertainment
Pentridge Open-Air Cinema
Catch a movie under the stars at Melbourne's newest cinema.
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Arts & Entertainment
Shakespeare Under The Stars 2020–21
Pack a picnic and see Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' or 'Macbeth' play out in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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Arts & Entertainment
Melbourne Music Week Extended
The annual event is taking over bars, clubs and unusual Melbourne venues once again.
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Food & Drink
The Exchange Beach Club 2020–21
This pop-up beach bar in Port Melbourne is back for another summer — with $2 oysters and weekend bottomless boozy brunches.
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Food & Drink
Juniperlooza 2020–21
Melbourne's gin festival is back — and it's taken over Pilgrim Bar.
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Food & Drink
QT Secret Garden Bar
This hidden rooftop has Four Pillars gin cocktails and stunning city views.
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Food & Drink
Arbory Afloat 2020
The Yarra's floating bar returns with cocktails on tap and a Mediterranean menu.
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Arts & Entertainment
Imaginaria
A multi-sensory playground with light-filled mazes, inflatable bubbles and a black hole simulator is taking over The District Docklands.
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Design & Style
MPavilion 2020
Instead of building something new, the event is reactivating its previous six eye-catching structures.
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Arts & Entertainment
Ocean Invaders
You can now get up close and personal with swarms of jellyfish at Sea Life's million-dollar exhibition.
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Food & Drink
Lakeside at Carousel
A new lakeside picnic ground complete with food, booze and picnic gear to hire.