Melbourne Cup Day (VIC) – Australia

The next Melbourne Cup Day (VIC) is on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 – in 49 days.

In Australia it's a regional holiday. Some states, provinces or regions take the day off and others don't, so check what applies where you live.

When is it? Melbourne Cup Day (VIC) falls on the 1st Tuesday of November. Because the rule points at a weekday rather than a fixed date, it moves every year, which is exactly why the table below is worth a bookmark. Next time round is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 49 days from now.

Which weekday does it land on? Always the same day: every one of the eleven years in the table puts Melbourne Cup Day (VIC) on a Tuesday. None of those years put it next to a weekend, so it doesn't make a long weekend on its own. You can open the printable calendar for any year in the table and see the date in context.

What to expect on the day. It depends entirely on where you are. In the states or regions that observe it, expect the usual public holiday pattern of closures. Everywhere else in Australia it's a normal working day, which is worth remembering if you're arranging anything across regional lines. In 2026 it falls in November, which also holds Remembrance Day on the 11th. Worth seeing them together before you commit to dates.

Putting it in your own calendar. You don't need to. Every calendar on this site already shows Melbourne Cup Day (VIC) for whichever country you've selected. What's worth adding is everything around it: the travel, the cover arrangements, who's visiting when. Open the month, click the days and type. Keep a free account and the notes stay with you between devices, and you can send someone a read-only link so you're both working from the same dates.

Every date here is worked out from the official rule rather than copied off a list, so the later years are as reliable as this one. If a date looks wrong for your region, please say so. Regional holiday rules do change, and we'd rather fix the rule than leave it.

Melbourne Cup Day (VIC) dates 2026–2036