Headliners including Robbie Williams and Jess Glynne celebrate Melbourne Cup Carnival live
by Woodrow Stevenson
Point of Law won the 166th annual Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November but the real winners were the crowds at Flemington Racecourse during Melbourne Cup Carnival as they headed to the Elms Live Stage after the last race each night to watch some of the biggest live music acts in the world.
After the four biggest days of Victorian racing, crowds from general admission to the grandstand flocked to the stage. - located just past the finish post - to watch acts including: UK pop megastars Jess Glynne (Victoria Derby Day), Robbie Williams (Melbourne Cup Day), Aussie singer-songwriter Vanessa Amorossi (Oaks Day) and Aussie DJ and producer Fisher.
The October 31 Derby Day show marked Glynne’s only Australian performance of 2026, as she flew in specifically for the event accompanied by two backup singers and six dancers. Glynne put on a high-energy stage performance set to amazing visuals, lighting displays, and smoke machines as her 50-minute show included greatest hits including; Rather Be, Hold My Hand, I'll Be There, and Don't Be So Hard on Yourself.
On November 3, Robbie Williams performed twice during Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse: first for a televised pre-race concert in the Mounting Yard prior to the iconic Melbourne Cup Race, and later that night, on the Elms Live Stage after the last race. Williams is in Australia for his BRITPOP World Tour, where he will perform at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium on November 11. He performed some of his biggest global hits including; Let Me Entertain You, Angels, Feel, and Rock DJ as well as cover songs including Wonderwall (Oasis), Down Under (Men at Work) and Beds are Burning (Midnight Oil). The show concluded with a massive fireworks display above the main stage to cap off one of Victoria's biggest sporting events for another year.
On November 5, Australian music legend Vanessa Amorosi took to the Elms Live Stage on Oaks Day to perform her 75-minute set featuring some of her greatest hits and famous covers in a high energy set including; Absolutely Everybody, Shine, cover songs Baba O'Riley (The Who), Use Somebody (Kings of Leon) and a crowd-interactive effort doing the ‘Chicken Dance.’
The 2026 Carnival ended on November 7 with Australian DJ Paul Fisher, known as simply ‘Fisher’, rounding out the festivities with his "Off the Rails" party. The concept of Off the Rails was simple - patrons were allowed on to the racetrack following the last race so they could enjoy the turf and the view, while Fisher marked his second consecutive year as host.
The Elms live stage area was full with racegoers jumping, dancing and enjoying the final fireworks display of the carnival as Fisher performed hits including; World - Hold On, Losing It, Somebody, and It's That Time.
Whether it was the elite racing, the food, the fashion or the entertainment, Cup Week was a big hit with the largest crowd since 2017, according to Victorian Racing Club Chief Executive Kylie Rogers.
"The 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival has once again demonstrated why it is one of the world's great sporting events, and the biggest racing carnival in the world, with more than 300,000 racegoers attending across the four days,” Rogers added. The VRC website is already offering VIP tickets to do it all over again in 2027, where more records will undoubtedly be broken around the event affectionately known as “the race that stopped the nation.”
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