Melbourne’s Zero Waste Festival Returns for a Ninth Year — Against the Odds
Racks of pre-loved clothing line one side of Fed Square’s Atrium, waiting to be picked over and claimed. A few metres away, volunteers thread needles at the Repair Café, coaxing a second life out of a torn hem or a button that gave up months ago. On the main stage, Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis is talking fruit trees to a crowd that’s spilling into the aisles, while nearby, kids bend over tables making earrings out of scraps that would otherwise be landfill. By evening, the same space transforms again, this time for a runway of clothing remade from what would have been thrown away.
This is the Zero Waste Festival, and on Saturday 12 September it returns to Fed Square for a ninth year. I’ve been going for a few years now — as a member of Zero Waste Victoria, the volunteer-run charity behind it — and last year I brought the kids along. While I worked my way through the clothes and book swap and sat in on a couple of the talks, they were busy at the craft tables.
A festival that almost didn’t happen
This year’s event carries more weight than usual. The organisers made the difficult call to press ahead despite missing out on funding through the City of Melbourne Event Partnership Program.
It was a real risk for a free, volunteer-led event — but with sponsors, partners and the community stepping in, the festival is going ahead regardless. Knowing what it took to get here this year makes turning up to support it feel more worthwhile than ever.
What’s on at Zero Waste Festival
The Zero Waste Festival returns to The Atrium & The Edge, Fed Square on Saturday 12 September 2026, 12pm–6pm — and it’s completely free.
Speaker program
- 12:00pm – Costa’s Garden: Fruit
- 12:45pm – Rethinking Plastic: The Good, the Bad and the Biodegradable
- 2:00pm – Everyday Sustainability: Progress Over Perfection
- 3:15pm – The Rise of Data Centres and the Hidden Footprint of AI
- 4:30pm – Frugal Foodies: Zero Waste Mystery Box Cook-Off
Hands-on and swap activities
- Clothes swap (two sessions — bring up to 6 clean, good-quality items)
- Book swap (up to 3 books)
- Fabric swap (measured and labelled, minimum 1 metre)
- Repair Café and Mending Circle (registration required)
- Recycling Centre for hard-to-recycle items
- Mini Spring Clean the City riverbank litter collection with Beach Patrol
- Zero Waste hands-on fun for kids and adults, 12pm–4pm — DIY produce bags, upcycled craft, earring-making from recycled materials, and more
There are also dozens of zero waste exhibitors and information stalls running throughout the day, so there’s plenty to explore even if you just wander.
ReWear Runway
New this year is the inaugural ReWear Runway, an upcycled fashion show from 6:00–7:30pm (pre-event drinks, nibbles and a DJ from 5:30pm for Friends of the Festival ticket holders). Finalists’ garments — all made from reclaimed materials — will be judged on sustainability, craftsmanship, wearability and creativity, with the audience voting for their favourite and going into the draw for prizes.
Tickets
The festival itself is free, but registration is recommended so organisers can plan for numbers, and it’s essential for the Clothes Swap and Repair Café. You can also become a Friend of the Festival or a Friend of the ReWear Runway — a paid supporter ticket that helps cover the real costs of running a free event. Perks include reserved front-row seating at panel discussions, a photo opportunity with speakers or special guests, access to a recycling/FOGO facility tour after the festival, and a Certificate of Appreciation.
A day worth the trip
If you’ve never been, it’s worth building your Saturday around. The talks are genuinely interesting, the swaps are a good excuse to refresh your wardrobe without spending a cent, and the whole event runs true to its name — right down to the reusable plates and cutlery at the food stalls.
Grandkids in tow are no obstacle; the craft tables will keep them happily occupied while you take it all in. I’ll be there again this year, and I hope to see some familiar faces from our community too.
Read more about the Zero Waste Festival program here.
Part of something bigger: RESET at Fed Square
Zero Waste Festival is one day within a much longer season at Fed Square. RESET runs across the precinct from 1 August to 17 October, and a few of its other free events are worth building a second visit around if the 12 September date doesn’t suit, or if you’d simply like an excuse to come back.
Remake + Repair Workshop (Sunday 20 September, The Atrium) picks up where the Repair Café leaves off — a hands-on session with textile artist hey.raco on mending and upcycling. Bring a garment that needs fixing.
Test Garden Open Day: Birds in the Big City (Saturday 3 October) runs in the same Test Garden behind the NGV we wrote about earlier this year, with urban ecologist Dr Jacinta Humphrey running small-group sessions on how birds adapt to city life.
And RESET closes on 17 October with the Riverfest Community Waterways Forum at The Edge — the same event listed as Confluence 2026 in our Birrarung Riverfest guide, a day of talks on the future of Melbourne’s rivers and creeks.
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