Start on the Yarra at Moomba
Melbourne's Labour Day weekend belongs to Moomba. The City of Melbourne festival runs 5–9 March 2026, with Monday 9 March the public holiday, and the programme is mostly free: dance workshops, skate competitions, face painting, carnival rides, live music, kids' activities and food trucks along the river. Two fixtures to plan your days around are the annual parade and the Birdman Rally, where contestants launch homemade flying machines off a platform above the water. Australia's largest community festival is also the easiest one to wander into — no ticket required for most of it.
Race Weekend, Then the Footy
The Australian Grand Prix lands in Melbourne the same weekend, so expect the city's hotels and restaurants to be running at full tilt. The AFL season's opening round falls across the long weekend too, which means Friday and Saturday nights fill with supporters moving between the ground and the city. If you want motorsport without the circuit, 'F1: The Exhibition' gathers championship cars, memorabilia, interviews and archive footage — a good wet-weather or between-sessions option.
Music in the City and Out of It
The Brunswick Music Festival spreads 40-plus gigs across Brunswick and its surrounds, so you can build an evening around a single suburb and walk between venues. Further out, Golden Plains takes over the Supernatural Amphitheatre at Meredith, about an hour from Melbourne, from 7–9 March 2026 — one stage, no corporate sponsorship, sister festival to December's Meredith Music Festival. In the Grampians, Pitch Music & Arts Festival runs its ninth edition from 6–10 March 2026, with Eris Drew and Octo Octa, Job Jobse, Palms Trax and Yung Singh heading the bill.
Day Trips Worth the Drive
- Ballarat Begonia Festival — Ballarat Botanical Gardens, 7–9 March 2026. Held annually since 1953, the collection holds thousands of begonias across more than 500 unique varieties, described as the rarest in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Port Fairy Folk Festival — four days in the beachside town of Port Fairy, now in its 49th year since being founded in 1977, with workshops, forums, music theatre, children's programmes, choirs and folk art.
- ChillOut Festival — Daylesford, 5–9 March 2026, held every Labour Day long weekend and described as Australia's premier and longest-running regional LGBTQIA+ pride festival.
- Moonlight Cinema — outdoor screenings in the Botanic Gardens, running until 5 April 2026 if you'd rather stay in town.
If you're camping around Victoria over the weekend, respect shared space, clean up after yourself, and check Parks Victoria advice and closures before you set out — many national parks and day-trip towns sit within a day's drive of Melbourne.
Warm Evenings, Quiet Galleries
March in Melbourne is still warm, which suits the outdoor programme — markets, riverbank crowds and open-air screenings. When you want air conditioning, the Potter Museum of Art is showing its second exhibition since reopening, 'A velvet ant, a flower, and a bird', and the State Library's 'Rebel Heart' draws on letters, diaries, manuscripts and personal objects. Both pair well with a long lunch before an evening gig.
Book your accommodation early, since the Grand Prix and the long weekend squeeze the city at once, then pick one anchor — Moomba, a festival out of town, or a day trip to Ballarat or Port Fairy — and let the rest of the weekend fill in around it.