Each year, Melbourne Showgrounds welcomes union members and their families to come together and celebrate at the annual Building Unions Picnic Day.
This one-day event includes new attractions each year and in 2025 guests enjoyed a live rodeo show, thrill seeker and family rides, caravans, boats, bikes, and delicious food.
Santa & Christmas Land, featured a magical line-up for the whole family. Including Gabby in Gabby’s Dollhouse and Bluey & Bingo Live. Plus meet & greets with the Grinch or Santa. There were pony rides, the inflatable zone, reptile zone, and meet the animals in the nursery.
Plus, the celebration extends across Victoria, with additional picnics in regional locations including: Wodonga, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Gippsland, Portland & Shepparton.
Spaces
The event utilises both indoor and outdoor spaces across the entirety of the venue. Victoria Pavilion is transformed into a family friendly performance zone, with entertainment on the main stage and ample theatre style seating. Plus, room for Christmas Land activities and meet & greets.
Out on the Main Arena, crowds are entertained with large-scale live performances and plenty of seating.
The Grand Pavilion hosts the retail zone, showcasing the latest caravans, boats, equipment and merch.
Our Exhibition Pavilion offers a unique indoor-rides experience with inflatable and children’s rides.
The Carnival Car Park is packed with thrill rides for all ages! With strategic planning, this layout offers a great experience for traffic flow and attendee safety.
Attendee Engagement
In 2025, Melbourne Showgrounds welcomed over 15,000 attendees for The Building Unions Picnic, highlighting the event’s growing popularity. This includes union members and their families from CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union), ETU (Electrical Trades Union) , PPTEU (Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union) and more.
