Johnston Street meets two different Nicholson Streets, and on 31 October LOJO Festival fills the stretch between them with Halloween.
LOJO Festival 2026 kicks off at 10am and runs until late, and getting in won’t cost you a cent. Instead of a main stage, more than 20 venues are running their own Halloween events, so the day plays out as a crawl with no set route. Organisers want you in costume.
Behind it all is Lower Johnston Street District, an independent collective of businesses clustered around Victoria Park station. When the group launched LOJO in February 2022, 18 venues were on board. This year’s edition, the fourth, is backed by the City of Yarra’s Quick Response Grants Program, a council fund that tops out at $4,000 a project.
LOJO Festival 2026
- When: 31 October, 10am until late
- Where: Johnston Street, from Nicholson Street in Abbotsford to Nicholson Street in Fitzroy
- Entry: free
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Over at Dr Morse, Italo disco DJ and collector George Hysteric, who owns Mothball Records, is soundtracking the night under the name Italoween. Staff will be in costume and a Halloweeny Martini is on special all day. The Yarra Hotel is putting a tarot reader on its front bar stage and pouring Halloween cocktails and shots. Rita’s Pizza and Kelso’s Sandwiches are both running spooky specials if you need something to soak it up.
Bodriggy is decking out its brewery in Day of the Dead decor to match its Latin kitchen, with a Halloween costume runway for dogs during the day before DJs take over in the evening. Dogs are welcome in the Park Hotel courtyard too, where there’s a spooky disco dress-up and a best-dressed comp. For kids, All The Very Best gallery is handing out trick-or-treats from 1pm to 6pm alongside an exhibition by Melbourne artist Faith Spencer, and Gallery Midlandia has lollies on offer, including some from Sweden.
Lulie Tavern is planning a loud night of live music, haunted DJs and creepy specials. Mikey’s Bar is screening spooky movies in its beer garden from 8pm, while the Retreat goes with 1980s live music and 1980s-themed temporary tattoos. Dutch Vinyl has DJs spinning while you dig through more than 40,000 new and used records. Each venue is still rolling out its program in the lead-up, and Runner Up, the rooftop bar above Collingwood Yards, is already promising dress-up prizes for anyone who arrives in character.
For more information, head here.
