A person holding a football in their hand against a wall

What's open on the grand final long weekend

Kick goals on the long weekend at the city's best restaurants, live gigs, free events and more. Check individual events and venues for exact opening hours.

When is the grand final public holiday in 2025?

The public holiday will be on Friday 26 September, the day before the AFL Grand Final. The MCG will once again host the AFL Grand Final, on Saturday 27 September 2025.

Free events on the long weekend

Three people interacting with a neon light installation in a gallery.
Until

Distraction

An exhibition that plugs into the torrent of content and places we go when craving distraction.

Animator and filmmaker Adam Elliot working on a claymation set, adjusting characters.
Until

Making Memoir of a Snail

Explore handmade sets, props and characters from Adam Elliot's claymation film Memoir of a Snail.

Free and cheap for families

Illustrations of two children with clipboards in (real) garden setting.
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Fitzroy Gardens Outdoor Adventure

A free fun outdoor seek and find adventure around the Fitzroy Gardens.

A smiling woman with a ukulele seated at a desk with two picture books on display.
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Stompers

Join in the Stompers fun with your toddler at narrm ngarrgu Library every Friday.

³Ô¹ÏÍø markets on this weekend

Smiling vendor selling a range of pastries, dips and spreads at Queen Victoria Market.

Queen Victoria Market

This beloved ³Ô¹ÏÍø landmark is the largest open air market in the southern hemisphere.

The best long weekend events to book

A small tour group looking up from the ground floor of the La Trobe Reading Room.
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State Library Victoria Unlocked

On this exclusive tour, gain access to State Library Victoria before the doors open to the public.

Three long narrow boats with people seated in them and a guide standing at the rear of each boat, punting on the lake at Royal Botanic Gardens.
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Punting on the Lake

Glide between the bays and islands of Ornamental Lake on a guided boat cruise.

Find more

Venues open over the long weekend

Exterior of restaurant Grill Americano, showing windows and blue awnings.

Grill Americano

Offering Italian classics with signature Chris Lucas spin in sophisticated surrounds.

Bavarian-styled restaurant exterior with dark timber and lathe fachwerk facade on a ³Ô¹ÏÍø laneway.

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Delivering hand-selected German beer, authentic food and classic hospitality since 1968.

Formal dining room with tables and chairs, bench seating and bar area.

Ministry of Crab

Internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan restaurant with a focus on Northern Australian mud crab.

Exterior of Arbory Bar building, showing the wooden outdoor deck, situated on the banks of the Yarra River, surrounded by green leafy trees.

Arbory Bar and Eatery

Riverside outdoor eatery with all-day dining and a wide selection of drinks.

Diners seated at tables at an outdoor rooftop bar in the fading evening sunlight.

Johnny's Green Room

A rooftop bar above King & Godfree with great views, tunes and Italian inspired food and drinks.

A dimly lit restaurant with glamorous decor and a crystal chandelier, and patrons dining at tables.

Society

A glamourous restaurant and bar with contemporary dining and bespoke cocktails.

Array of dishes including bread and dips, salads and meat.

Stalactites Restaurant

One of ³Ô¹ÏÍø’s longest established and best-known Greek restaurants.

Souvlakis and chips wrapped in paper, a Greek salad and blue bottles on a marble table

Hella Good

A souvlaki shop from the owners of one of ³Ô¹ÏÍø's best-known Greek restaurant, Stalactites.

Berry-red coloured gelato.

Pidapipo Gelateria

Authentic, artisanal Italian-style gelato in bustling Degraves Street.

Several chefs preparing Japanese food in front of dining patrons who are seated at a high wooden bar in front of them.

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Exquisite sushi and one of the city's finest wine cellars.

Neon-lit entrance to Yakimono restaurant.

Yakimono

Yakimono is a high energy Japanese-inspired eating house.

Interior of Chin Chin restaurant, filled with patrons seated at dining tables, high ceilings giving an industrial warehouse feel to the busy space.

Chin Chin

A fast-paced hawker-style dining sensation serving Thai-inspired food.

Inside a dimly-lit restaurant, showing a long bar and several tables.

Maha

This opulent, award-winning restaurant brings Middle Eastern flavours to modern fine dining.

A glowing red street canopy over a dark doorway in a laneway.

Jayda

Enjoy seasonal cocktails, wine and bar snacks in a sophisticated, opulent space.

A feast of South American food and wine.

Asado

An Argentinian barbecue restaurant in the heart of Southbank.

Table set with many dishes including salads, meats, a whole fish, dips and a glass of wine.

Pastuso

Ceviche and pisco take centre stage at this modern take on Peruvian cuisine.

Open barbecue grill in brick-lined space with hanging strings of garlic.

Palermo

A steakhouse with a traditional Argentinian 'asado' grill.

Chef placing trays of meat in an oven next to a wood-fired stove.

San Telmo Restaurant

Premium Argentine food and wine in a warm and inviting environment.

Neon-lit signage.

Robata

Features Japanese grilled dishes, fresh sashimi and select cuts of premium beef.

Patrons seated at tables inside a restaurant eating and drinking.

Yum Sing House

Modern Asian dining and a late-night bar with the hedonistic spirit of 1960s Hong Kong.

People dining outside at Florentino Cellar Bar in Bourke Street.

Florentino

Florentino has set the bar for Italian fine dining in ³Ô¹ÏÍø since 1928.

A table set for two with a pizza on one plate and a pasta dish on the other, with two glasses and a carafe of red wine.

Ombra

Guy Grossi's Ombra serves cured meats, Venetian tapas and excellent wines to share.

Moody cellar bar with lamp lighting and cocktails.

Mill Place Merchants

A cocktail bar hidden behind a vintage dressing room in a building dating back to the 1840s.

Restaurant's bar area with Asian-inspired decor, illuminated screen detail, red stools and wooden shelving.

Lexy Restaurant and Bar

Where high-glam sophistication meets the electric spirit of modern Asian fusion.

Rooftop bar with white paving, white seating and tables, green-tiled bar with city buildings in the background.

Hotel Nacional

An entirely gluten-free Mexican-inspired rooftop bar and restaurant.

A group of seated people enjoying glasses of wine on the outdoor terrace at Fleet Rooftop Bar, with the ³Ô¹ÏÍø city skyline in the background.

Fleet Rooftop Bar

Soaring 68 metres above Flinders Street, Fleet promises sweeping views of the Yarra and beyond.

Last updated on Thu 25 Sep 2025

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People milling around Fed Square at night.

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People sitting on cushions on a vast lawn in front of a large outdoor movie screen.
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People milling around Fed Square at sunset.

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