Let's raise the flag then get the party started!
Come, celebrate.

FREE concert, Federation Square, noon to 2pm, Tuesday, 30 August

Music giants Ross Wilson (Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock), Jack Howard (Hunters & Collectors) and Lisa Edwards (John Farnham Band) make this the birthday concert of the year.

• Ross Wilson: Eagle Rock plus other Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock classics.
• Jack Howard: Hunters & Collectors' anthem Holy Grail — and a special, new song he has written about Melbourne, especially for Melbourne Day.
• Lisa Edwards with Michael Cristiano: John Farnham's smash You're the Voice.
• Get your free birthday cup cake (while they last)!
• Cutting of a giant birthday cake, made by Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses.
• MC Craig 'Huggy' Huggins from GOLD104 FM.
• And more!

Fill your heart with pride

Join MC Dr Sally Cockburn (“Dr Feelgood”), Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, city councillors, our 2016 Junior Lord Mayor, Melbourne Day chairman Campbell Walker and committee, and others, as we salute the city's flag at 9am.

• Meet the Enterprize's "first settlers" in period costume — including Gilbert, the Tassie tabby, Melbourne's first cat!
• Sing along to sea shanties by the Enterprize Shanty Band.
• See and hear our roving town crier in full voice.
• Hear a military band.
• And more!

Be the little big boss of Melbourne

Lording it over Melbourne: Reining Junior Lord Mayor Claire McDaniel in her mayoral robes aboard the Enterprize. Photo: Vicki Walsh

Junior Lord Mayor 2016 Competition

Entry is open to Victorian students in grades five to seven (10 to 12 years of age). The competition encourages them to learn about Melbourne history and civic duty.

To enter is easy. Students complete questions on the entry form. From up to seven finalists, the overall winner is chosen by our judges. With thanks to 13CABS, our competition partner.

Hurry! Entries close 5pm, 15 August 2016.

  Lord Mayor's Oration - Melbourne Day lunch

Wednesday, 24 August, 2016, noon to 2pm

Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AM, Governor of Victoria, above, delivers the 2016 Lord Mayor's Melbourne Day Oration on her first 12 months as Governor, and what she has discovered about Melbourne. Presented by Melbourne Business Network at Zinc restaurant at Federation Square.

Celebrate all that's great about Melbourne during Melbourne Day Week

Victoria Harbour, Docklands
Sunday, 28 August, 2016, 11am to 5pm

A celebration of our waterways, the immigration and arrival by sea of Melbourne's multi-cultural family.

Alma Doepel fundraiser lunch

Wednesday, August 24, Central Pier, Docklands, noon to 2.30pm

Celebrating 100 years of the arrival of the tall ship Alma Doepel into Melbourne. Join Simon McKeon, former Australian of the Year, Monash University Chancellor, businessman, sailor and philanthropist, and Peter Hitchener, from Channel Nine News, to support the restoration of the Alma Doepel and her return to work with Victoria’s young people.

Did you know: Before Melbourne there was Sullivan Bay, Sorrento?

What could have been: A wood engraving sketch of Sullivan Bay in 1803 as imagined by artist Samuel Calvert (1828-1913).  More images of the Sorrento settlement here.

In October 1803, a 450-strong camp was established by our earliest settlers at Sullivan Bay, Sorrento, but was soon abandoned because there was no fresh water. But they first tried an ingenious way to harvest water. Learn more about what happened at this State Library of Victoria fascinating blog post.

Water, the miracle of Melbourne

Melbourne's story was dramatically different. The city was founded in August 1835 and flourished at the site of today's Enterprize Park because a small waterfall (since dynamited beside Queensbridge St) separated fresh water upstream from the salty Yarra River, giving the first settlers who arrived on the Enterprize, and those who quickly followed, their lifeblood.