The country’s largest design festival will return in May for its 10th year with more than 400 events.

Since its launch in 2017, Melbourne Design Week (MDW) has become a national platform for design innovation and imagination from Australia and around the globe.

Organiser, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), announced the 2026 program this morning (4 March). Across 11 days from 14 to 24 May 2026, MDW will offer more than 400 things to see and do across metropolitan Melbourne, featuring special guests Mary Featherston, Alison Page, David Flack, Shunji Yamanaka, Tom Kundig, Ben Mazey, John Wardle and Hugh Allen, plus a dedicated Interior Design Day.

Keynotes

Major highlights include a keynote lecture at the National Communication Museum from influential Japanese industrial designer, Shunji Yamanaka, whose work blurs the boundaries between humans and machines through prosthetics, robotics and product design.

A keynote and exhibition at Melbourne School of Design will celebrate the 25-year career of 2021 IDEA Gold Medal winner Alison Page, a descendant of the Dharawal and Yuin people, whose work explores how Blak design can inform and enrich everyday Australian life.

Decorated US architect Tom Kundig, known for designing residences that connect the inhabitants to their environment, will also appear in a talk at the NGV.

NGV International spotlights interior design

At NGV International, interior design will take centre stage with an in-conversation event hosted by Grand Designs Australia presenter Anthony Burke with Australian design legend, Mary Featherston, whose body of work, created alongside her late husband Grant, has come to define Australian mid-century interior environments.

In a one-night-only event, Flack Studio founder David Flack is set to reflect on the projects that have shaped his career, sharing candid insights into his own work and the designers he most admires in a revealing conversation.

The NGV’s Interior Design Day – on Saturday 23 May in the Great Hall – will be a full day of talks and discussions featuring industry stalwarts.

Food takes a seat at MDW’s table

Another focal point of MDW looks at the intersection between design and Melbourne’s world-renowned food scene, with a number of hospitality and dining-oriented events.

A special in-conversation event between executive chef Hugh Allen and architect John Wardle – Yiaga: The Craft of Place – will explore how design and craft have helped to create the dining experience at Melbourne’s newest fine dining restaurant, Yiaga.

Table Manners, an exhibition curated by Georgia Smedley at Florian Home, will present cutlery from the historic Kraftsman collection alongside new designs by contemporary makers.

Designer and chocolatier Ryan L Foote will present a collection of edible chocolates inspired by architectural landmarks. Meanwhile, trained architect and chef-restaurateur Audrey Shaw of Carnation Canteen will also host a cocktail-hour conversation reflecting on her journey from studio to kitchen.

Sport and fitness

The 2026 program also puts sports and fitness design in the spotlight, in an effort to “celebrate Melbourne’s reputation as a sporting destination”, according to the NGV.

Fusing art and surfboard making, Perfect Designs sees Paris-based artist Lucas Lecaheur create experimental surfboards for an exhibition hosted by At The Above. Meanwhile, at the Salomon store in Emporium, Outdoor Futures is set to be an exhibition exploring how outdoor hiking gear is being redesigned for a changing climate.

Nothing New Tournament, a one-day, five-a-side soccer tournament, will challenge designers and the public to create soccer kits made from materials recycled from the 2026 Asia Cup.

Free talks at The Ian Potter Centre

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is set to host free talks featuring emerging and established industry professionals.

What I Wish I Knew Then pairs early career and industry leaders together for candid, cross-generational conversations, and Australian architectural photographer John Gollings discusses his creative practice in a special afternoon talk on Sunday 24 May.

The Ian Potter Centre will also showcase Anna Varendorff’s Melbourne Art Fair x NGV Commission: U lights and vases.

Australian Furniture Design Award

The Australian Furniture Design Award (AFDA) will this year reward furniture and lighting designs responding to the 2026 theme ‘Living Well Living Small’. AFDA is one of the country’s most significant furniture and lighting design competitions, with a $20,000 biennial prize. The winner also has the opportunity to develop a commercial range or product with Stylecraft.

An exhibition of the shortlisted works by finalists Joanne Odisho, Isabel Avendaño Hazbún, Nika Biggs, Besley & Spresser and Aileen Sage will be presented in the new Stylecraft showroom on Collins Street with the winner announced on 13 May.

Melbourne Design Week Award

Announced upon the opening of MDW, the Melbourne Design Week Award will be awarded to a designer or project for their outstanding contribution to the event. In 2025, the award went to Melbourne-based decorative lighting practice, Volker Haug Studio.

Melbourne Art Book Fair, exhibitions and more

The Melbourne Art Book Fair will also return, alongside more than 100 exhibitions taking place across the city. Projects are set to spotlight Australian-made design by Danielle Brustman, Studio Shields, Dutoit, Cult, Thomas Maxam, SKUPA with Elliat Rich, Dean Norton and Tom Fereday.

According to organisers, a small number of additional events will likely be added between now and April.

Explore the program at designweek.melbourne.

Lead image: Yiaga. Photo: Anson Smart.

Related: Perth Design Week reveals March program.