Melbourne · Sports & events
SPORT & SEASON
Melbourne organises its year around sport: tennis in January, football all winter, a horse race in November.
AFL at the MCG
Australian rules runs March to September at the MCG and Marvel Stadium, and the same ground takes the Boxing Day cricket Test. General admission stays cheap.
Australian Open
The season's first tennis major fills Melbourne Park for a fortnight in January; a ground pass buys outside courts and a lot of shade-hunting.
Melbourne Cup, Flemington
The spring racing carnival peaks with the Cup in early November, a public holiday across Victoria. The lawn is the cheap ticket and the better day.
Tan track and park runs
The 3.8-kilometre Tan circuit around the Botanic Gardens is the city's running loop, busy at dawn; free timed park runs fill Saturday mornings.