The Melbourne Marathon Festival has been held every year from 1978, except 2020. The festival is composed of the marathon, half-marathon, 10 km, 5.7 km, 4 km walk, and Kids 2.5 km races. Because of Covid-19 related restrictions, it was decided in September that the 2021 event would be postponed to December and split over two days. The shorter events will be held on the afternoon of Saturday 11 December and the marathon and half marathons will be held on Sunday the 12th, starting an hour earlier
The Festival celebrated its 30th birthday in 2007 with a new course which featured the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as both the starting point and finishing point. Over 20,000 competitors participated in the 2008 festival. The 2010 running of the marathon saw a record number of 5,026 finishers, and race records set for both men and women.
There was a virtual festival in 2020.