There's a Free French Market Coming to Queen Vic This July and It's Very Oui

If your winter has been missing croissants, raclette and the general energy of standing in a cobblestone square eating cheese, Melbourne is about to sort you out.

The Bastille Day French Festival is returning to Queen Victoria Market on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 July, taking over Sheds C and D from 9am to 4pm. Entry is free. The only thing you'll be paying for is whatever you eat, drink and somehow convince yourself you need to buy.

This year is a big one. The festival is celebrating its 10th year, and organisers have promised a bigger program to match. Expect French-Australian producers filling the market stalls, live music on the main stage, roving performers and a game of pétanque if you're feeling confident. (You're not. Nobody ever is. Play anyway.)

On the food front, think flaky croissants, melting raclette, vin chaud to warm your hands around and mussels cooked in white wine cream sauce because it is winter and you deserve it.

If you want to go deeper, there are paid masterclasses running across the weekend, including a cheese and wine session (obviously), plus Les Lumières talks, comedy sessions and a handful of satellite events dotted around the city.

For those who want to stretch the French moment out further, the Queen Victoria Winter Night Market is also running every Wednesday through to 26 August, with its own French-inspired food stalls and roving performers.

It is free, it is festive, and it is the closest most of us will get to Paris this July. That is enough.

Bastille Day French Festival:

Queen Victoria Market

Sheds C & D

11 & 12 July 2026, 9am to 4pm

Free entry