Australian GP launches Melbourne F1 fan festival

The F1 Melbourne Fan Festival will run across the Australian GP weekend (March 13-16), opening on March 12.

The free five-day festival will be held at Melbourne Park Oval, in the shadows of Rod Laver Arena on the south-eastern corner of the city.

It comes after tickets for this year’s Australian Grand Prix sold out in under and hour and offer fans who missed out an opportunity to still experience Formula 1.

The festival will offer a number of attractions including virtual driver selfies and an F1 show car.

There will also be driver appearances and Q&A sessions in addition to a host of other sports and entertainment figures.

“I am thrilled to share that this year we are expanding the Grand Prix experience and taking over Melbourne, with the announcement of the free F1 Melbourne Fan Festival 2025 at Melbourne Park Oval,” said Travis Auld, Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO.

“Race week is such an exciting time in the city, and this festival will be an extension of the incredible offerings already available within the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.”

Steve Dimopoulos, minister for tourism, sport and major events, added: “We know families are feeling the pinch, so we’re inviting Victorians to come and be part of this iconic, globally-loved event at the free family festival.”

“No other city in the world has an international Grand Slam, a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and soon regular season NFL games – Melbourne is the undeniable major events capital of Australia, which creates thousands of jobs for Victorians.”

A record crowd is expected to attend this year’s Australian GP following a slight increase in capacity at the venue.

Last year, 452,055 fans attended across the four days, up more than 7000 from the year before.

Fans attending this year’s event will be able to enter the Supercars paddock, having been excluded from the area last year.

For 2025, that has been relocated to the outside of the final corner, and will boast its own podium that will be used for three of the weekend’s four Supercars races.