After the success of 2025 we are programming and running multiple venues out of Meat Market in North Melbourne again this year!

We encourage you to consider what works best for the format and needs of your show. You are welcome to apply for both Festival Hub and Meat Market in your EOI, but unless you have exceptional circumstances, you will only be programmed into one or the other.

Please DO NOT contact Meat Market directly with any enquiries, come to us. We will be taking over the venue for the festival period and managing all programming, tech, and operations.

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Please see this Tech Specs document for photos, stage dimensions, and the technical capabilities of each room:

Meat Market Tech Specs 2026.pdf

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Some key information about Meat Market shows:

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Between 45-60 minutes in run time

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Interested in performing between 5-15 sessions

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Able to share a venue (such as lighting & sound set ups, and green room areas) with other shows

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In line with the programming vision and values of Melbourne Fringe Festival

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Differences from Festival Hub

• Open Tuesday to Saturday, 5 nights a week, with no shows on Monday or Sunday
• The Cobblestone Pavilion can facilitate single point rigging for circus etc.
  • We are often asked for a venue that can host aerial rigging and here it is! With a focus on high-production value circus and dance, the Cobblestone is well equipped to realise those high-flying dreams!
• Longer turn around times between shows in the Cobblestone Pavilion and Blackwood Box than offered anywhere at Festival Hub
  • To facilitate more ambitious works with larger casts, larger sets and more set up time these turn around times will be closer to 1 hour (as opposed to the 15-30 minutes in the Hub)
• More equipped back of house spaces
  • While green room and storage space can be a challenge in the historic walls of Trades Hall, Meat Market is equipped with more spaces for casts, and their set and props. These are still shared spaces with limitations, but there is more flexibility built into the nature of the building being a dedicated arts space.

For All Shows in the Festival Programmed Venues

• All shows must participate in the following promotional deals to allow for consistent messaging: Flash Sale and Hub Club (please refer to Special Offers and Packages for details). This will allow us to market events in Fringe Programmed Venues with campaigns around the deals.
• All shows must allow participant passholders to enter free of charge, but only if there are seats available, and only once all paid ticketholders have been seated.
• Almost every room has sound bleed to some extent. We sound isolate as much as possible, but as a multi-room performance venue, Fringe Programmed Venues are not the best option for quiet, meditative works.
• Your venue hire includes one venue technician for your season, as well as front of house and ticketing support, venue production staff, risk assessment of your event and general support from the Fringe producing and operations team to help make your event as successful as possible.