1. Sit up in bed and read your White Hat Newsletter and plan your weekend. White Hat been making suggestions about things to do in Melbourne for over 10 years. More information at The White Hat Newsletter.
2. Take a trip through the Yarra Valley and the forest in the hills to the St Andrews Market. St Andrews Market is a hippy-style  market set in bushland and has a range of foods, clothing and hand made goods..
3. We suggest you buy a Weekend saver ticket for public transport which allows you to travel anywhere on the network for next to nothing.
4. Do your food shopping for the week at some of Melbourne's great food stores. For the price conscious you will find great value at places like Assembly Drive. For specialist and ethnic foods you will find plenty of suggestions at The White Hat Guide to Food Stores in Melbourne.
5. The Gleadell Street Market in Richmond is a traditional street produce market and full of atmosphere. You can find a comprehensive list of Saturday markets at The White Hat Guide to Saturday Markets in Melbourne
6. If you prefer to buy your food direct from the producer and know how it has been raised, there are always a selection of farmers markets to choose from on a Saturday in Melbourne. More details at The White Hat Guide to Farmers Markets in Melbourne.
7. Wander through a private garden - Most weekends in Melbourne outside winter you will find that some family has thrown open to the public their lovingly tended private garden for some good cause or other. You can find a listing of current private garden openings at The White Hat Guide to Private Gardens in Melbourne.
8. The Rose St Market is just off Brunswick Street Fitzroy and specialises in hand crafted wares. This is just the place to wander though and a Saturday afternoon and maybe stop for a cup of coffee.
9. Take a stroll along Sydney Road in Brunswick. Maybe enjoy a Middle Eastern breakfast and check out the wide range of stores specialising in everything from the mainstream to the alternative. Use the tram to travel between the different precincts. Gentleman are warned that it it also contains a large number of bridal stores so you may wish to take your girlfriend somewhere else.
10. Go to folk club and either join in or listen. For instance if you are in Sydney Road you can try the folk club at the nearby Grandview Hotel. You can find more information at The White Hat Guide to Folk and World Music in Melbourne.
11. Melbourne on Saturday means sport and on a Saturday the streets are usually populated people in coloured scarves or carrying flags to some sporting event or other. Better still, join a local club since there are plenty who cater for all range of abilities and can even accommodate the odd visitor who is only in town for a short time. Even if you are not interested in sport you can go along to a large park such as Fawkner Park, sit under a tree and read a book and listen to the faint sounds of the the football or cricket match taking place on one of the ovals in the distance.
12. Attend a concert in the Arts Precinct. There are a number of concert venues a short walk from the city centre including the Melbourne Town Hall, Hamer Hall, the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Iwaki Auditorium and on most Saturdays you will find a concert of international standard taking place in one of these venues.
13. Take a ride on Puffing Billy - Melbourne's favourite train.
14. If you have already ridden Puffing Billy, and most Melburnians have, then you might want to try out one of his bigger brothers. On most Saturdays you will find several steam trains operating within a short distance of Melbourne. More information at The White Hat Guide to Steam Trains in Melbourne.
15. Visit Healesville Sanctuary and get up close with some native Australian animals.
16. Attend a Street Festival. You will find one most Saturdays in Melbourne. More details at The White Hat Guide to Street & Community Festivals in Melbourne.
17. Enjoy some outdoor entrainment from the numerous buskers around Melbourne. More information at The White Hat Guide to Buskers in Melbourne.
18. Get adventurous and do something out of the ordinary. More information at The White Hat Guide to Outdoor & Adventure Activities in Melbourne.
19. Chill out and watch the world go by at The Warmies.
20. Take a free guided tour of the Fitzroy Gardens at 10am.
21. And finally, if it's raining then you could have a look at The White Hat Guide to 50 Things to do on a Rainy Day in Melbourne.

Some forthcoming events on a Saturday in Melbourne

Chess The Musical

This concert style production will be backed by a full orchestra and feature the original London West-End orchestrations.

Set during the height of the Cold War, two of the world’s greatest chess players, one American, one Russian, find themselves pawns of their own governments’ sparring in the turbulent East-West political arena. As the game climaxes and stakes rise, Florence Vassey, a Hungarian-born refugee finds herself caught in the hurricane between the two grandmasters, in a triangle of both love and power.

With music by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus (ABBA), and lyrics and book by Tim Rice, Chess The Musical is arguably one of the most powerful and impactful rock-opera scores ever heard on the musical theatre stage. Featuring hit songs I Know Him So Well and One Night In Bangkok this extraordinary sung-through production also features standards such as Anthem, Someone Else’’s Story, Heaven Help My Heart and Pity The Child.

Prices and bookings at Ticketmaster
2pm & 7.30pm, Saturday 24^th April
Regent Theatre, 191 Collins St, Melbourne

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Knox Festival

The Knox Festival is an annual free event with an emphasis on family-friendly activities. It features local artists and performers, markets stalls, rides, entertainment, cultural activities and plenty of food.

If you can only make it for part of the time, White Hat recommends the Saturday Evening Program from 5 until 9pm  where you can pay your respects to the Country Fire Authority Volunteers in their torchlight parade culminating in a fireworks display.

10am to 9pm Saturday 29th February 2020
10am to 5pm Sunday 1st March

Full details at Knox Festival.

March 2021 (dates tbc)
Wally Tew Reserve, Brenock Park Drive, Ferntree Gully

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Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar

Discover Scandinavia in Melbourne at the annual Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar in the beautiful gardens of the Swedish Church, Toorak. Festive atmosphere with stalls full of gorgeous items from Sweden, Denmark and Norway, especially imported for the Bazaar. Handicrafts, Scandinavian food, entertainment and lots of fun activities for the kids. Full information at Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar.

5th and 6th December 2019 (tbc)
Toorak House, 21 St Georges Road Toorak

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Port Phillip Mussel Festival

White Hat can thoroughly recommend this vibrant seafood festival come street party. Enjoy mussels and other seafood cooked in a wide variety of ways all accompanied by one of Melbourne's best free jazz festivals. Street vendors combine with the market's own restaurants to provide plenty of variety from the cheap and cheerful through to chef-prepared restaurant dishes. Sit in the sun with a cold sangria and a hot mussel paella or enjoy a craft beer with wok cooked drunken mussels.

Details at Port Phillip Mussel Festival

Our rating - 4 Hats

7th & 8th March 2020
South Melbourne Market, cnr York & Cecil Streets, South Melbourne

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More events below

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Free Guided Tour of Fitzroy Gardens

A free one hour guided walking tour through this formal garden highlighting its rich history. Bookings are not required. The tour leaves from the Information Centre in the gardens.

Free
10am, Saturdays
Fitzroy Gardens

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Selected attractions open on certain Saturdays in Melbourne

Duldig Studio museum + sculpture garden

An artists' house museum - the former home and artists' studio of sculptor Karl Duldig (1902-1986) and his wife - artist and inventor Slawa Duldig née Horowitz (c1902-1975). Both artists fled the Nazis and ended up making a significant contribution to Australian life. You can read more about their remarkable background and the studio at Duldig Studio >>

1pm to 3pm, Tue & Thur & 2nd Sat of month
92 Burke Road, Malvern

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Luna Park

Melbourne's iconic fun park.

The Esplanade, St Kilda

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