MELBOURNE.- Expressions of interest are now open for the landmark tenth edition of Australia’s largest and leading annual design festival, Melbourne Design Week, which will enliven Melbourne and Victoria with an exciting program of imaginative design events from 14-24 May 2026.

Now in its tenth iteration, Melbourne Design Week has transformed the design landscape of Victoria by creating a national platform for designers to share their work and ideas. Designers, studios and collectives are invited to submit innovative and ground-breaking ideas for events, talks, exhibitions, workshops and more for the 2026 festival’s state-wide program, including the Melbourne Art Book Fair. Expressions of interest for Melbourne Design Week are open until 12 noon 13 November 2025, and expressions of interest for Melbourne Art Book Fair are open until 12 noon 1 December 2025.

The annual 11-day festival is an annual event for designers, industry and enthusiasts to come together and share bold ideas, show new work, and make industry connections. Guided by its annual theme, Design the World You Want, Melbourne Design Week has carved out a focus on experimentation, innovation and ideas that can enrich the world.

In 2025, Melbourne Design Week featured more than 450 events and welcomed in excess of 100,000 people. Expanding the festival’s reach beyond Melbourne’s ateliers, studios, retail spaces, universities, galleries, gardens and public spaces, the Week also featured events in Langwarrin, Long Forrest, Sunbury, Saint Andrews and Red Hill.

Melbourne Design Week is an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and delivered by the NGV. Since its inception, the program has grown in scope and scale – from just under 100 programs in 2017 to over 450 in 2025.

Expressions of interest are also open for the 12th Melbourne Art Book Fair. Since launching in 2015, the Melbourne Art Book Fair has brought together publishers, writers and designers to showcase and launch some of the region’s best publications at venues across Melbourne and Victoria. The Melbourne Art Book Fair’s annual Stallholder Fair takes place across the first weekend from 15-17 May 2026.

Minister for Creative Industries, Colin Brooks, said: ‘Melbourne Design Week celebrates Victoria’s outstanding reputation for design excellence and highlights the critical impact of design on our state’s $41.2 billion creative industries, and on our everyday lives. I encourage Victorian designers, design businesses and anyone interested in the power of good design to get involved.’

Director of the NGV, Tony Ellwood AM, said: ‘Since 2017, Melbourne Design Week has grown in strength and ambition – due in large part to the limitless imagination of our local design community. In 2026, we invite designers, architects, makers and collectives to help us shape the milestone tenth edition of the festival and to share their groundbreaking achievements with our ever-growing audience.’