This Week Around Maroondah
Tuesday 28 July 2026

Good morning, afternoon or evening,

This week's edition has a new Ringwood hospitality story, a practical Money Check for rates notices, and a planner full of local stories on the page, on stage and through sport.

The event research is now in. The strongest planner mix includes Moreno Giovannoni at Croydon Library, Sam Docherty at Eastland, local community theatre, Ringwood Art Society's 60-year exhibition and Heroic Hawks at Ringwood RSL.

A few useful reasons to get out around Maroondah this week, with links through to the MX guide so you can check details, booking information and nearby options.

Thursday 30 July, 6pm-7pm
Croydon Library, Croydon
Free; booking required

A strong free literary event with a timely hook: Giovannoni's novel The Immigrants won the 2026 Age Book of the Year Award.

View the Moreno Giovannoni event

Saturday 1 August, 2.30pm-4pm
Dymocks Eastland, Ringwood
Free; booking optional but recommended

A recognisable football figure appearing at Eastland gives the issue a strong Ringwood weekend pick. Attendance is confirmed free, with booking optional but recommended.

View the Sam Docherty booking page

Saturday 1 August, 2pm and 7.30pm
Mullum Mullum Anglican Parish, Ringwood
Adult $25; concession $20; family $70; under-fives free

A locally produced musical adventure with two session choices, table seating, BYO drinks and nibbles, and tea/coffee and cake provided. This now deserves a stronger mention: organiser Naomi Short has advised that 100% of proceeds will go towards the parish's current mission project, supporting children in Cambodia to buy the uniforms they need to attend school.

View the Divine Destinations booking page

Continuing through the week
Maroondah Federation Estate, Ringwood
Free

Ringwood Art Society marks 60 years with an exhibition tracing its development from 1966 to today. Gallery hours are 9am-5pm Monday to Friday and 10am-2pm Saturdays; closed Sundays and public holidays.

View the RETRO exhibition

Sunday 2 August
Doors 5pm; photos 6pm; show about 6.30pm
Ringwood RSL, Ringwood
Adult $44; under-16 $27.50 plus fee; family of four $132 plus fee

Current Hawthorn player Will Day and club legend Dermott Brereton make this a distinctive one-off sporting option for the week.

View the Heroic Hawks event

See the full What's On guide

See more events in the What's On guide
Browse Ringwood events
Browse Croydon events

Browse free events on MX
Explore Things To Do around Maroondah
Explore local learning and workshops

Realcommercial.com.au reports that the former Bungalow Beer Garden site at 123-127 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood, has sold to a Melbourne-based hospitality group.

The article says the three-storey venue was previously home to the now-closed Bungalow Beer Garden, with restaurant, function, nightclub and beer garden spaces. It also reports that the new owners are expected to operate a hospitality business at the property and would likely need to reapply for a liquor licence because the former licence had expired.

This is worth watching because the site sits close to Eastland and has been one of Ringwood's more visible hospitality addresses. We will keep an eye out for confirmed reopening plans, trading name, licence details or fit-out news before calling what comes next.

Read the Realcommercial report

Annual rates notices are the kind of local paperwork many people skim, file away, or put aside for later. This week is a useful time to check whether any concession or rebate that should apply has actually appeared.

For eligible residents, the key questions are simple:

The State Government rates concession applies to eligible people who hold a Pensioner Concession Card, DVA Gold Repatriation Health Card - Totally and Permanently Incapacitated, or DVA Gold Repatriation Health Card - War Widow.

Eligible pensioners may receive a rebate of up to 50% of rates and charges, capped at $272.70 per year. The rebate only applies where the property is the applicant's principal place of residence, so rental properties are not eligible.

The Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund replaced the fire services property levy on 1 July 2025. Eligible pensioners may also receive a $50 rebate applied to the ESVF.

You can apply online through the Municipal Rates Concession form, visit a Council service centre to complete a form and have your pensioner card sighted, or call Council to request a form by mail.

Download the Municipal Rates Concession form
Find Maroondah service centre locations

This section should point readers to official Council and Victorian Government information rather than guessing eligibility.

Maroondah's Quick Response Grants are open again, and they are designed for smaller opportunities that may not fit the annual grants cycle.

Eligible community groups can apply for up to $1,500 for one-off community or creative activities. Individuals may also be eligible for support connected to significant activities in their chosen field.

Funding is limited and eligibility matters, so treat this as a prompt to check the official Council information rather than assuming it applies to every project.

Check Quick Response Grants for community groups
Check Quick Response Grants for individuals

This week also starts a small MX food experiment: using local data as a discovery signal, then checking it against real places, real visits and current information.

The first Five-Star Food Finds page uses Ringwood Street Cafe as the opening example. Treat it as a dated discovery snapshot, not a claim that MX has ranked the best cafe in Maroondah. The point is simpler: when a local place has strong public feedback, a clear checked date and a story worth noticing, it gives us somewhere useful to start.

Read Five-Star Food Finds

Local artists, arts groups and curators have a timely opportunity at Wyreena Community Arts Centre.

Applications are open for the 2027 Arts Lounge exhibition program, with proposals closing at 5pm on Friday 31 July 2026. The opportunity is open to emerging and established artists, including local artists and artists from the wider community.

Exhibitions run for about seven to nine weeks, there is no fee to exhibit, and artwork can be offered for sale. Council notes that the gallery can display 2D and 3D work depending on size, and applicants are encouraged to visit the space before applying.

Check the Wyreena proposal details

Pick My Park voting closes at 4pm on Monday 3 August 2026.

If you care about local parks, this is a useful one to check before the deadline. Visit the official Pick My Park site, look through the listed projects for Eastern Melbourne and nearby Maroondah areas, and vote for the park ideas you would like to support.

The safest action is to check the official project list directly and choose the local or Eastern Melbourne projects you want to support.

Vote through Pick My Park

Expressions of interest for Maroondah Carols 2026 close at 5pm on Friday 31 July.

Council is looking for performers, food vendors, Christmas market stallholders and sponsors for the free community event at Town Park, Croydon on Saturday 5 December, from 6pm to 10pm.

The event has been running for more than 25 years and attracts more than 7,000 attendees each year. Council notes that the event is smoke-free, vape-free and dog-free, with fireworks expected at about 9.30pm.

Council notes that this is an expression of interest only and does not guarantee involvement. Spots are limited, and vendors and performers on site will need a current Employee Working with Children Check unless exempt.

Read the Maroondah Carols opportunity
Open the direct expression-of-interest form

Questions: [email protected]

Last week's reader poll gave us an early signal: the two strongest guide ideas were free things to do around Maroondah and local cafes or lunch spots. It was a small sample, so we will treat it as a useful nudge rather than a final answer.

This week, we are keeping the question simple:

Which should MX build first?

Victoria Police has published a public notice listing the public area around Eastland Shopping Centre as a designated place from 8am on 1 July 2026 to 11.59pm on 31 December 2026.

The notice describes the declared area by the surrounding roads: Ringwood Bypass, Ringwood Street, Maroondah Highway and Warrandyte Road. For readers who want the detail, the safest approach is to read the official notice and Victoria Police's public notices page directly.

Read the Eastland public notice
View Victoria Police public notices
Read the Operation Pulse background

If this was useful, forward it to someone in Maroondah who might like it too. The more locals who read MX, the easier it becomes to surface good events, useful updates and small community stories.

Know something happening around Maroondah?

If you are running a local event, class, workshop, performance, community activity or open day, add it to The Maroondah Exchange so more locals can find it. You can also reply with a local tip or update for a future edition.

Add your event to The Maroondah Exchange

Thanks for reading,

The Maroondah Exchange