Melbourne Festival and Art & Architecture Trail

This year the Melbourne Festival Art & Architecture Trail features work by some of the Midlands’ best creative artists exhibiting their work in gardens, halls and local homes not usually open to the public . All of the work on the Trail is original, for sale and the artists and makers all accompany their work, many demonstrate their skills, and they will all be happy to tell you about their work so please feel free to ask. The trail features paintings, photography, pottery, sculpture, jewellery, and much more! – in fact something for every taste and pocket. Each year we select a mix of new artists and lots of old favourites. Every year more artists apply to exhibit, and 2025 marks the 20th anniversary since the first event.

Melbourne is a beautiful village with many beautiful buildings in the conservation area. Usually during the Art & Architecture Trail visiting professional artists are hosted in rooms made available in private houses, which are not usually open to the public. Most of the buildings on the Trail are of historic significance and architectural information is contained in the Trail Guide for each venue.

Hopefully having visited the Trail, visitors will be tempted to return to take another look at some of these heritage sites.

It’s tiring work walking around the Trail and we ensure nobody goes hungry! Great food by local suppliers is available each year at the Food Fayre in Castle Street, Food is also available at the Art Cafe at Melbourne Assembly Rooms, and Melbourne has great cafes, restaurants and pubs along with the popup church and charity tea shops!

The Busk Stops are always popular at the Music Marquees outside the Food Fayre and Assembly Rooms with live music from 12-5 on Saturday and Sunday – it’s great to see so many families and young people enjoying themselves.

The trail consists of easy-walking loops around the central streets of Melbourne and can be started at any point. Each adult will need a Trail Wrist Band and a Trail Guide to enter the buildings, they are available from street sellers. Entry has remained £5 per adult (under 18’s free) since 2008. The Trail Guide consists of a map of Melbourne with festival sites marked and details of buildings and the artists they are hosting. . The Wrist Band is a pass permitting access to all venues - no Wrist Band = NO ENTRY

The public streets are all wheelchair-friendly, but unfortunately some of the private buildings are not accessible for wheelchair users or less agile visitors. A special Easy Access Trail is marked on the Trail Guide for visitors with restricted mobility so that visitors can decide which venues they are physically able to access.