Our monthly roundup of the biggest and best festivals happening in and around Melbourne, in print and online.
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
Assembling the best jazz acts and most expansive jazz minds from around the world and Australia has Melbourne International Jazz Festival taking over the streets of Naarm in the latter parts of October. This year Chaka Khan, Nile Rodgers and Chic, GoGo Penguin and William Barton are featured on the program. It’s going to be huge.
Melbourne International Jazz Festival hits the city from October 20-29
The Eighty-Six
The 86 tramline is a mainstay in both the functionality of its transport and the folklore of Naarm/Melbourne’s norther suburbs. This year in an ode to the music community that resides on High Street from Northcote to Preston, The Eighty-Six have curated a potent and eclectic lineup. With free events, parties curated by 1800 lasagna and percussionist/dancer Bez from ’80s band the Happy Mondays in conversation you won’t be let down.
The Eighty-Six festival will reinvent High Street from October 23-31
Melbourne International Games Week
Following its most successful year yet in 2022, Melbourne International Games Week is back bigger than ever from 30 September – 8 October 2023, with beloved home of screen culture, ACMI, at its vibrant heart.
Melbourne – October 8
Melbourne Fringe Festival
2023 sees the return of the globally acclaimed Melbourne Fringe Festival. This year’s event will bring over 450 events to various pockets of the city. Spanning 20 days from October 3 to October 22, expect comedy, cabaret, dance, drag, music and more. Groundbreaking and cutting edge performance is set to fill out the bill, while this year’s festival homes in on the importance of play – a notion we often forget to engage with as adults.
Melbourne Fringe Festival takes over the city from October 03-22
Italian Film Festival
Live La Dolce Vita with this year’s Italian Film Festival. 24 years running and the Italian film industry is still churning out captivating movies that sit within a range of genres. Whether you’re looking for a romance, drama, thriller or historical blockbuster the Italian Film Festival has you covered.
Italian Film Festival is on at Palace Cinemas until October 18
Japanese Film Festival
Japanese cinema is coming to Melbourne, and with a wealth of interesting and enticing narratives dispersed across the multiple films screening it is set to be a riveting festival. Tales from fishmongers inheriting large sums of money, to scientists investigating mysteries steeped in ancient shamanic rites and everything else in between will be screened at Kino, ACMI and Palace Balwyn.
The Japanese Film Festival will come to a range of screens from October 23
Melbourne Fashion Week
Spread out across workshops, expert panel talks, pop-up fashion extravaganzas, immersive experiences and much more, Melbourne Fashion Week boasts a program that celebrates and supports Australian fashion. The very best will be on display, as we have come to recognise with Melbourne Fashion Weeks of the past. This year’s event will be no exception.
Melbourne Fashion Week comes to life from 23-29 October
Grapevine Gathering
Indie rock sensations Spacey Jane, UK festival favourites The Wombats, Hayden James, King Stingray, Vanessa Amorosi, Cannons, The Rions, Teenage Joans and Bella Amor are all playing this wine-soaked festival in the Yarra Valley.
Rochford Estate 7 October.
