City of Melton Learning Festival

Get a taste of something new. The City of Melton Learning Festival is back, and this year it's all about food!

The celebrations will kick off on Saturday 30 August at 10.30am with a special opening event at Melton Library & Learning Hub. Come along for free activities for the whole family.

Browse our information stalls, play fun games, or book in to one of our fun workshops.

Saturday 30 August, 10.30am to 3pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Discover the joy of learning through music with Hey Dee Ho! 

Sing, dance and learn in this special concert to celebrate the launch of the City of Melton Learning Festival. 

This multi-sensory program explores musical concepts like beat, rhythm, tempo, pitch and dynamics, helping to build fine motor skills, cognitive and language development, memory, social interaction, and creative expression. 

And most of all, it’s fun!

Saturday 30 August, 11am to 11.45am
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required.

Celebrate the opening of the City of Melton Learning festival in this special Paint Along session for kids!

Our friends at Sip & Paint Melton will guide you through creating your very own food-themed masterpiece.

All materials provided and all skill levels are welcome in this interactive workshop.

Saturday 30 August, 11am to 12.30pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

 Book Now

Did you know that what we eat can affect our mood and mental wellbeing? 

In this workshop, nutritionist Dr Mitra Zarrati will explain how a healthy diet can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. 

The workshop explores which nutrients boost brain function and mood, plus the impact of processed foods and sugar on mental health. 

Learn practical tips for eating better and feeling better, at this special event as part of our Learning Festival opening celebration.

Saturday 30 August, 11am to 12.30pm 
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Cut, paste and create your own recipe card to take home, complete with seasonal veggie swaps for any time of year.

Choose from a variety of recipes and select seasonal combinations of vegetables that sound tasty to you, for year-round recipe-readiness!

This is a casual drop-in activity – explore one recipe and one season, or multiple recipes for the whole year.

Saturday 30 August, 11.15am to 3pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required for this drop-in activity. 

Put your senses to the test! What's the secret herb or spice?

Easy level: You can see AND smell before guessing. Hard mode: Smell only!

Win great prizes in this drop-in activity.

Saturday 30 August, 11.15am to 3pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required for this drop-in activity. 

Ignite your senses this Learning Festival and watch food come to life in this Food on Film series. Sit back and relax in our theatre room to enjoy a selection of films with food at their heart. 

Based on the beloved Roald Dahl book, this 2005 comedic and fantastical film follows young Charlie Bucket and his Grandpa Joe, as they join a small group of contest winners who get to tour the magical and mysterious factory of eccentric candy maker Willy Wonka. 

Rated PG

Running time: 1 hr 55 min.

Saturday 30 August, 1pm to 3pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

This interactive drop-in session invites you to slow down, engage your senses, and explore the everyday power of probiotic and prebiotic foods. Through a simple, build-your-own snack cup activity, we’ll highlight ingredients that support gut health, offering space to taste, learn, and reconnect with how food can nourish from the inside out.

Whether you’re just starting to explore fermented foods or simply curious about what “feeding the gut” really means, this workshop is designed to spark conversation, deepen understanding, and meet you right where you are. Come as you are, take what serves you, and leave with something both delicious and supportive.

Melanie Leeson is the director of Mettle +Grace. A passionate chef and campaigner for food as medicine, Mel is focused on cooking with wholefoods; catering for intolerances, allergies and diagnosed diets. Mel combines her experience in the industry working as head chef at Monk Bodhi Dharma, My Goodness Organics and Pressed Juices with her own health dilemmas to bring you an informative and fun workshop on food for the gut and mind.

Saturday 30 August, 11am to 2pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required for this drop-in activity. 

Beeswax wraps are an environmentally friendly way to keep food fresh and hygienic, without the use of single-use plastics, such as cling wrap. 

Join us this Learning Festival to learn how you can make this sustainable wrap yourself, with the help of Emma Grace from Emma Grace Sustainable Workshops. 

You will learn how to make and maintain beeswax wraps, which will allow your food to stay fresher for longer and reduce food wastage. 

All materials provided.

Monday 1 September, 10am to 11am
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Ignite your senses this Learning Festival and watch food come to life in this Food on Film series. Sit back and relax in our theatre room to enjoy a selection of films with food at their heart.

Based on the extraordinary character at the centre of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children's book and one of the best-selling children's books of all time, "Wonka" tells the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today. This musical comedy is a great prequel to the classic children’s tale.

Rated PG
Running Time 1hr 56 min.

Monday 1 September, 3pm to 5pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Gardening Guru Craig Castree joins us this Learning Festival to share his veggie-growing wisdom!

Learn how you can grow nutritionally dense food where you live, while improving soil health, your own health and the climate.
Craig will give you tips to take the hard work out of gardening, so that your veggie patches can thrive without all the effort.

Craig Castree is an award-winning Horticulturist. With 45 years’ experience at growing his own food organically and creating edible gardens, Craig has become a go-to source of gardening knowledge around Victoria. Craig has worked in fruit tree orchards, and both retail and wholesale nurseries, and is passionate about teaching others to live a more sustainable and self-sufficient life in an urban setting.

Tuesday 2 September, 11am to 12pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Ignite your senses this Learning Festival and watch food come to life in this Food on Film series. Sit back and relax in our theatre room to enjoy a selection of films with food at their heart.

The last of five coveted "golden tickets" falls into the hands of a sweet but very poor boy. He and his grandpa then get a tour of the strangest chocolate factory in the world. The owner leads five young winners on a thrilling and often dangerous tour of his factory. This classic take on the Roald Dahl tale inspired the world’s love for the Willy Wonka franchise, and has been a family favourite since it’s premiere in 1971.

Rated G
Running Time 1hr 40min

Tuesday 2 September, 3pm to 5pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Embrace this year’s Learning Festival by going back to the start of the plant life cycle, and design a pot for your seeds to thrive in. Paint your own terracotta pot for this special edition of Teen Crafternoons where creativity is encouraged.

Walk away with your decorated pot, and all the tools necessary to grow your own plant.

Wednesday 3 September, 3.15pm to 4.15pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

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Learn something new and get your hands dirty this Learning Festival with Eat Grow Garden!

This special Kids Gardening Workshop will teach you everything you need to know about the life of a veggie.Learn about the life cycle of a plant, explore the different parts of plants and how we can eat these different parts. You will get to plant seeds in the garden and taste different raw veggies in this hands-on workshop. 

Eat Grow Garden is helping communities live more sustainably through food growing and sustainability projects, and native wildlife gardens.

Wednesday 3 September, 4.30pm to 5.30pm
Aintree Community Garden 

Book Now

A poetry slam is a place for all voices. Whether you're new to poetry or looking to perfect your craft, this workshop is the perfect way to prepare for the Australian Poetry Slam’s Melton Heat. Come along and learn everything you need to know with an expert creative mentor.

Be sure to register for the Melton 2025 Heat, where you can listen, applaud and vote, or get on the mic to perform a poem!

Wednesday 3 September, 5.45pm to 7.45pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

This fun and creative workshop will teach you everything you need to know about making, baking, and decorating Focaccia bread. You'll get to experiment with delicious toppings and fresh herbs to create your own mouthwatering edible art. This workshop is perfect for those who love baking and want to learn something new, whilst having fun. This class is intended for adults only.

Dough Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, olive oil, salt and a small amount of sugar (as a yeast food). 

Toppings: Fresh edible flowers and herbs, spices, seeds and olive oil. 

No meat or cheese will be used.

This event is brought to you by Djerriwarrh Community & Education Services. 

Thursday 4 September, 10.30am to 12.30pm
Djerriwarrh Community & Education Services

Book Now

This Learning Festival, we encourage you to play with your food!

Poke bowls are a great way to get creative. Chef Carmen from Hou Mei Homemade, will teach you how to chop veggies, pickle them, and enhance the flavours of your bowl using simple ingredients and methods.

No cooking skills required – just curiosity and an appetite for something new!

Thursday 4 September, 1pm to 2.30pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Thursday 4 September, 4pm to 5.30pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Ignite your senses this Learning Festival and watch food come to life in this Food on Film series. Sit back and relax in our theatre room to enjoy a selection of films with food at their heart.

Chef Primo and businessman Secondo are immigrant brothers from Italy who open their dream restaurant, Paradise, in New Jersey. However, Primo's authentic food is too unfamiliar for the local tastes, and the restaurant is struggling. When famous Italian-American bandleader Louis Prima is scheduled to appear at Paradise, the two brothers put all of their efforts into the important meal, which will likely decide the fate of their restaurant.

Rated M
Running Time 1hr 47min

Thursday 4 September, 3pm to 5pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

 Book Now

Learn something new and get your hands dirty this Learning Festival with Eat Grow Garden!

This special Kids Gardening Workshop will teach you everything you need to know about the life of a veggie.Learn about the life cycle of a plant, explore the different parts of plants and how we can eat these different parts. You will get to plant seeds in the garden and taste different raw veggies in this hands-on workshop. 

Eat Grow Garden is helping communities live more sustainably through food growing and sustainability projects, and native wildlife gardens.

Thursday 4 September, 4.30pm to 5.30pm
Djerriwarrh Neighbourhood House

Book Now

According to Jaclyn Crupi – a proud Italian-Australian pasta maker and devotee – pasta is love, pasta is life. Pasta can be a quick and simple meal or a culinary masterpiece, but in essence it is about generosity, comfort and the beauty to be found in simplicity. Her book Pasta Love is a celebration of pasta and the people who make it.

Join Jaclyn to learn how to make fresh pasta at home and how to improve your dried pasta dishes. Hear stories of the incredible pasta nonne (Italian grandmothers) Jaclyn has been making pasta with and learn their pasta-making ways.
Jaclyn will demonstrate how to make a semola rimacinata flour and water pasta dough and then shape it into cavatelli, orecchiette, fusilli al ferretto, lorighittas and many more pasta shapes. So if you’re keen to give pasta making a go, or you just love all things pasta, this is the event for you.

Jaclyn Crupi is an author, book editor, event host and bookseller. Jaclyn has worked in publishing and bookselling since 2002. She has written numerous books for both children and adults. Her recent book, Garden Like a Nonno, was shortlisted for an Indie Book Award and longlisted for an Australian Book Industry Award. Her most recent book for children, The ABC Kids Guide to Loving the Planet, was awarded the Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature.

Thursday 4 September, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Krystal Wade, author of Mabel’s Magical Meal, is taking us on a colourful journey through the rainbow, using food and everyday items to explore each colour, in celebration of this year’s Learning Festival. Come and join us for a hands-on sensory experience through fun and interactive learning to deepen the children’s connections between the story and the real world.

Perfect for families with children aged 0 - 8. You’ll also earn Read, Sing, Chat points for attending!

Saturday 6 September, 11am to 11.45am
Melton Library & Learning Hub

 Bookings are not required.

Did you know that what we eat can affect our mood and mental wellbeing? 

In this workshop, nutritionist Dr Mitra Zarrati will explain how a healthy diet can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. 

The workshop explores which nutrients boost brain function and mood, plus the impact of processed foods and sugar on mental health. 

Learn practical tips for eating better and feeling better, at this special event as part of our Learning Festival opening celebration.

Saturday 6 September, 11am to 12.30pm 
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Join designer and educator Tamara Leacock of Remuse Designs for an immersive, hands-on workshop exploring the vibrant possibilities of food waste dyeing. In this two-hour session, you’ll learn how to transform everyday kitchen scraps — such as onion skins, avocado pits, and turmeric — into natural, sustainable dyes for textiles.

Grounded in traditions of culturally informed sustainability and environmental care, this workshop invites you to reconnect with the slow, intentional beauty of natural colour-making, using both food waste and sustainably cultivated materials. You will leave with your own hand-dyed fabric sample and the knowledge to continue experimenting at home — all while exploring new ways to reduce waste and reimagine creativity through a climate-conscious lens.

Perfect for beginners, creatives, and curious minds. All material provided.

Tamara Leacock is a designer, stylist, costume designer and textile artist who works with recycled materials, natural and low impact dyes, artisan textile techniques, and Afro-futurist aesthetics to create fluid textile explorations of natural colour and mood. Tamara is the founder of contemporary unisex label, REMUSE. Founded on the principles of diversity and low impact design, the pieces are created from natural, organic, deadstock and reclaimed plant based materials and hand dyed with both plant based and low impact fiber reactive dyes.

Friday 6 September, 1pm to 3pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub 

Book Now

Join us at Melton Botanic Garden this Learning Festival to explore edible plants.

The Melton Botanic Garden is home to thousands of species of plants, with a particular focus on dry-climate plants.

The Friends of the Melton Botanic Garden will take you on a relaxing walking tour, exploring edible plants in the Bushfoods, Southern African and Mediterranean Gardens.

Learn how these plants grow and their various uses, among the beautiful backdrop of this hidden gem in the heart of Melton. Explore nature and learn something new this City of Melton Learning Festival.

This event is brought to you by The Friends of the Melton Botanic Garden Inc. To learn more, including details of volunteering opportunities, visit their website.

Please meet at the information board near the Lakewood Blvd carpark.

Tuesday 9 September, 10am to 11am
Melton Botanic Garden

Book Now

Have you ever looked at something SO delicious and thought, I wonder if I can recreate that…. on paper?

In this special After Schooligan’s session, we will be honing our life drawing skills and attempting to ‘see and sketch’ some different fruits. You can choose the challenge of drawing the whole fruit bowl or focusing on just one piece.

Improve your English with the help of our friendly volunteers. We can help you with your speaking, reading, and writing skills. Come along to build confidence and make new friends. All skill levels are welcome.

For this special session of English Conversation Club, we’ll be celebrating our Learning Festival- this year’s theme is ‘Food’! We will be joined by a dietician from Western Health who will teach us how to cook healthy, quick, easy and most importantly delicious meals on a budget.

Wednesdays 10 September, 10am to 11.30am
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Learn something new and get your hands dirty this Learning Festival with Eat Grow Garden!

Explore worm farming and composting in this special Kids Gardening Workshop.
Share a fruit and veggie platter while discovering how to compost and feed worms your scraps – then try it for yourself by building a real worm farm!
You’ll get to explore the amazing worm farm at Aintree, hold real live worms, and watch them turn scraps into soil.

Eat Grow Garden is helping communities live more sustainably through food growing and sustainability projects, and native wildlife gardens.

Wednesday 10 September, 4.30pm to 5.30pm
Aintree Community Garden

Book Now

Get creative this Learning Festival, and try something new in this special Paint Along workshop.

Our friends at Sip & Paint Melton will guide you through creating your very own food-themed masterpiece.

All materials provided and all skill levels are welcome in this interactive session.

Wednesday 10 September, 5.30pm to 8pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Learn something new and get your hands dirty this Learning Festival with Eat Grow Garden!

Explore worm farming and composting in this special Kids Gardening Workshop.
Share a fruit and veggie platter while discovering how to compost and feed worms your scraps – then try it for yourself by building a real worm farm!
You’ll get to explore the amazing worm farm at Aintree, hold real live worms, and watch them turn scraps into soil.

Eat Grow Garden is helping communities live more sustainably through food growing and sustainability projects, and native wildlife gardens.

Thursday 11 September, 4.30pm to 5.30pm
Djerriwarrh Neighbourhood House

Book Now

Poets Run This! Word Travels Calls a New Election!

The nation-wide search for the people’s poet is on.

Who will become our next Australian Poetry Slam (APS) Champion as audiences vote in events around the country? Join us at the Melton Library and Learning Hub as a performer or audience member, to elect a local slam champion to perform in the Victorian final and be in with a chance to perform at the APS National Final on 26 October at Sydney Opera House.

Poets: share an original poem for two minutes on the mic.

Audience: listen, cheer, and vote with scorecards in this national celebration of spoken word.

Thursday 11 September, 5.30pm to 8pm
Melton Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Celebrate all things culinary this Learning Festival with Sharon Flynn, author of 'Ferment for Good' and 'Wild Drinks', and founder of The Fermentary.

Rewild your kitchen (and your body) by making your own gut enriching, living, naturally sparkling drinks from ingredients you have at home. Learn the skills to make your own Ginger Beer bug, Rye Kvass and Whey Soda. Capture a season in a bottle, reduce food waste and do what feels like making magic right there on your kitchen bench!

Sharon Flynn is an author, teacher and founder of The Fermentary, Australia’s first manufacturer specialising in naturally living, wild ferments - for a cultured gut. Sharon consults and teaches internationally and during her 15 years in the industry has won many awards for both her books and her work in food, beverage and sustainability.

Friday 12 September, 1pm to 2.30pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Ignite your senses this Learning Festival and watch food come to life in this Food on Film series. Sit back and relax in our theatre room to enjoy a selection of films with food at their heart.

After a controlling owner pushes him too far, chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quits his position at a prestigious Los Angeles restaurant. Carl joins forces with his ex-wife, best friend and son to launch a food-truck business, and the venture provides a chance to reignite his passion for cooking -- as well as his zest for life and love.

Rated M
Running Time 1hr 54min

This Learning Festival, we encourage you to play with your food!

Poke bowls are a great way to get creative. Chef Carmen from Hou Mei Homemade, will teach you how to chop veggies, pickle them, and enhance the flavours of your bowl using simple ingredients and methods.

No cooking skills required – just curiosity and an appetite for something new!  

Friday 12 September, 3.30pm to 5pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Join us this food themed Learning Festival to have some fun creating your own polymer clay models in our monthly Creative Space! 

The opportunities are limitless during this workshop, from fabulous fungi, smiling bowls of ramen to a cute and cozy cup of tea, learn key skills in using polymer clay and how you can memorialise your favourite feasts! 

In this session, you’ll develop your designs, spend time moulding and bringing them to life, then decorate with paint pens. We’ll have plenty of inspirational images for you to use, but the world is your creative oyster (pun intended).

Friday 12 September, 9am to 12pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Discover the joy of learning through music with Hey Dee Ho!

Sing, dance and learn in this special concert to celebrate the end of another successful City of Melton Learning Festival.

This multi-sensory program explores musical concepts like beat, rhythm, tempo, pitch and dynamics, helping to build fine motor skills, cognitive and language development, memory, social interaction, and creative expression.

And most of all, it’s fun!

Saturday 13 September, 10.15am to 11am
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required. 

Explore the significance of plants in Wurundjeri culture through an engaging, hands-on experience. You will be able to touch, smell, and taste various bushfoods, learning about Wurundjeri cultural and practical uses.

Brought to you by Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation

Saturday 13 September, 11am to 12pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Explore the significance of plants in Wurundjeri culture through an engaging, hands-on experience. You will be able to touch, smell, and taste various bushfoods, learning about Wurundjeri cultural and practical uses.

Brought to you by Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation

Saturday 13 September, 11am to 12pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Cut, paste and create your own recipe card to take home, complete with seasonal veggie swaps for any time of year.

Choose from a variety of recipes and select seasonal combinations of vegetables that sound tasty to you, for year-round recipe-readiness!

This is a casual drop-in activity – explore one recipe and one season, or multiple recipes for the whole year.

Saturday 13 September, 12.15pm to 3pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required for this drop-in activity. 

Put your senses to the test! What's the secret herb or spice?

Easy level: You can see AND smell before guessing. Hard mode: Smell only!

Win great prizes in this drop-in activity.

Saturday 13 September, 12.15pm to 3pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Bookings are not required for this drop-in activity. 

Celebrate the magic of food with us on the closing day of our 2025 Learning Festival.

We’ll be joined by Australia’s only Honey Sommelier, Jessica Locarnini who will teach you all about how diverse and wonderful honey is and all its various food uses.

No two honeys are the same, and Jess will take you on a journey to better understand flavour notes, food pairings and how you can celebrate this magical, ancient food that has been used to heal, feed and bring a spark of joy to dishes for centuries.

Jess will teach you all you need to know for your next celebration and how to add flare to your charcuterie.

Saturday 13 September, 12.30pm to 2pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now

Join Puifai from UFO Studio for a special art workshop where you'll explore foods from around the world through watercolour.

In this session, you’ll learn how to paint a variety of savoury dishes and desserts from different cultures. From cheesy slices of Italian pizza and delicate Japanese sushi to buttery French croissants, colourful macarons, juicy burgers, and swirls of soft serve, this class is a fun way to celebrate global flavours through art.

Perfect for beginners, the instructor will guide you step by step through essential watercolour techniques. By the end of the class, you'll take home your own food-themed artworks, ready to hang or frame.

All materials are provided. Just bring your love for food and painting.

Puifai is a Melbourne-based illustrator and art teacher with a passion for watercolour. Teaching for over 10 years in Thailand and Australia, nothing brings Puifai more joy than helping people feel confident in their art skills.

Saturday 13 September, 2pm to 4pm
Caroline Springs Library & Learning Hub

Book Now