The cross-country course at this year’s MI3DE winds past Werribee Mansion, the State Rose Garden and the polo fields. On Sunday 7 June, the gardens that make the backdrop so cinematic will be off limits to anyone not riding a horse.
The 4CYTE Melbourne International Three Day Event returns to Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre from Thursday 4 June to Monday 8 June, bringing Australia’s top eventing riders and horses to the western edge of the city for the King’s Birthday long weekend. Dressage runs Friday and Saturday, cross country takes over the park on Sunday, and show jumping decides the final placings on Monday. A large undercover winter Trade Village and evening entertainment fill out the days between the main arenas.
The Sunday closure of the mansion, formal gardens, rose garden and barbecue areas is a direct result of the international cross-country course threading through those very spaces. Spectators can still watch the action from designated vantage points, but the gardens themselves become part of the competition route, not a place to wander. Parks Victoria confirmed the temporary restrictions apply all day on 7 June, with access returning on the Monday public holiday.
Thursday 4 June and Friday 5 June are free entry, with dressage sessions running across both days. If you have never watched world-class eventing, those free days are the way in.
From Saturday onwards, paid admission applies. Early-bird pricing closed on 20 May, so gate prices are now in effect. The early-bird range stretched from $45 for a single day to $97 for a multi-day pass, and you can expect the full-price tickets to land higher at the gate. Buying online before you drive out to Werribee South is the smarter move.
The event’s parkland setting is what sets it apart from showjumping under a stadium roof. The cross-country course cuts past the Open Range Zoo, skirts the Mansion Hotel & Spa, and crosses open paddocks dotted with autumn roses. It is a genuinely rural stage 30 minutes from the CBD, and the fact that it happens on the same weekend every June means it draws a crowd that knows exactly what it is turning up for. The standard of riding is national-team calibre, and the long weekend timing turns a single afternoon into something you can stretch across three or four days.
If you are bringing a family, plan for the full Sunday. The cross-country spectacle is the most dramatic phase, the trade village will be in full swing, and there is enough space on the grounds for kids to burn off energy between fences. Just don’t plan to wander through the rose garden or fire up a barbecue halfway through the afternoon. The mansion gardens are competing, not hosting, on that day.
Public transport is the least stressful route. Catch the Werribee line to Werribee Station and then bus route 439 to the park entrance. Driving is straightforward, with on-site parking available at 170 K Road, Werribee South, but expect the usual long-weekend traffic heading west. The freeway will get you there in about half an hour from the city, and the open paddocks beyond the venue do a decent job of swallowing the cars.
Once you are in the precinct, other June activations are running alongside the event. The Dinos at the Zoo trail continues at Werribee Open Range Zoo through to 12 July, and Werribee Park Mansion has night theatre in the mansion itself. You can bookend a cross-country session with dinosaurs in the morning or a play after dark, though on Sunday the mansion gardens are still off limits to general visitors, so check your timing. The zoo sits right next to the event grounds, making a combined day out genuinely easy to pull off, especially if you have visitors in town for the long weekend.
The competition runs every year on this weekend. The only thing that changes each June is which combination holds the lead heading into Monday, and whether the weather plays along.
Quick Facts
Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre
State centre for equestrian sports in Victoria located at 170 K Road, Werribee South. It features multiple arenas, stables, polo fields and hosts major national and international competitions including the annual MI3DE.
Werribee Park
Historic parkland managed by Parks Victoria featuring the Mansion, formal gardens, Victoria State Rose Garden and adjacent to the Open Range Zoo. It regularly hosts large public events and is a key tourism asset in Wyndham.