Melbourne Cup Catering for Melbourne Offices: 2026 Dates, Menus and Prices
The Melbourne Cup runs on Tuesday 3 November 2026, and in Melbourne that day is a public holiday. Most of the catering advice ranking for "Melbourne Cup office catering" is written by Sydney caterers, for offices that are open on the day and can put the race on in the boardroom. A Melbourne office is usually shut, so before you think about food you need to pick a different day to hold the lunch. Below are the 2026 dates, what a Cup lunch costs, and how the ordering deadlines shift around the long weekend.
The 2026 Spring Racing Carnival dates
| Date | Race day | What it means for an office |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 17 October | Caulfield Cup | Weekend |
| Saturday 24 October | Cox Plate | Weekend |
| Friday 30 October | — | Last working day before the long weekend |
| Saturday 31 October | Victoria Derby Day | Weekend |
| Monday 2 November | — | A working day, but plenty of people take leave to make it a four-day weekend |
| Tuesday 3 November | Melbourne Cup | Public holiday in Melbourne |
| Thursday 5 November | Oaks Day | A working day, and the first full day most teams are all back |
| Saturday 7 November | Stakes Day | Weekend |
Which day to hold the office Cup lunch
Friday 30 October is the most practical choice for most Melbourne offices. Everyone is still in, the long weekend puts people in a good mood, and you can draw the sweep at lunch for Tuesday's race. The downside is that nobody watches the race together.
Monday 2 November looks tidy on a calendar and works badly in practice. It's the day people take off to turn Cup Day into a four-day weekend, so you risk ordering for thirty and feeding twelve. If you do pick Monday, ask for a headcount by the Thursday before, not the morning of.
Thursday 5 November, Oaks Day, suits a team that wants to celebrate after the fact. It's a real race day at Flemington, the office is full again, and the sweep winnings from Tuesday are a good excuse for a lunch. It's also the best day for catching the people who were away on the Monday.
Cup Day itself only works if your business trades through the public holiday. If that's you and you want catering delivered on Tuesday 3 November, call us on 1300 322 240 to check before you plan around it.
What a Melbourne Cup office lunch costs
Four builds, priced per person from our menu. Every price is inclusive of GST.
| Format | What's in it | Per head | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweep morning tea, 20 people | Fresh scones with jam and cream $5.10, tea and coffee station $4.85, fresh fruit skewers $5.00 | $14.95 | $299 |
| Stand-up Cup lunch, 20 people | Mini gourmet pies $5.25, beef sausage rolls $5.15, arancini $5.15, smoked salmon blinis $5.15, rice paper rolls $4.80, chocolate-dipped strawberries $3.15 | $28.65 | $573 |
| Boxed Cup lunch, 20 people | The Lunch Box $27, plus assorted slices $3.70 | $30.70 | $614 |
| Stand-up Cup lunch, 40 people | The 20-person stand-up menu, plus a Capi sparkling mineral water $4.75 each | $33.40 | $1,336 |
The stand-up lunch gives each person five savoury pieces and a sweet, which is right for a lunch that replaces a meal and runs about an hour. For a shorter drinks-and-sweep gathering, four pieces a head is plenty. Swap the beef sausage rolls for vegetarian sausage rolls at $4.85 and the stand-up lunch comes down to $28.35 a head.
The boxed lunch suits a team that's half in the office, or a floor that would rather eat at their desks. Everyone gets their own box, so there's no negotiating over the last arancini.
Our finger food catering range has the full list of hot and cold pieces if you want to build your own, and the morning and afternoon tea menu covers the sweep morning tea. For anything bigger than forty, get a quote and tell us the date and headcount.
Ordering and cancellation dates around the long weekend
Our ordering and cancellation deadlines are counted in business days, and Cup Day is not one. That pulls several of them back to the Friday or Monday before, which is easy to miss when you're booking in October.
| Your lunch is on | Order by | Cancel by (up to 20 people) | Cancel by (20 to 50 people) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 30 October | 3pm Thursday 29 October | 4pm Thursday 29 October | Wednesday 28 October |
| Monday 2 November | 3pm Friday 30 October | 4pm Friday 30 October | Thursday 29 October |
| Wednesday 4 November | 3pm Monday 2 November | 4pm Monday 2 November | Friday 30 October |
| Thursday 5 November | 3pm Wednesday 4 November | 4pm Wednesday 4 November | Monday 2 November |
For 50 people or more, cancellations need five business days' notice. For a Thursday 5 November lunch that means Wednesday 28 October, a full week ahead. Bookings over $4,000 also need a 50% deposit to confirm.
If your lunch is on Wednesday 4 November, the day after the holiday, we'd suggest getting the order in on the Friday before instead of leaving it to the Monday.
Delivery, minimums and payment
We deliver between 7am and 5:30pm on weekdays. Delivery is free to the CBD, Docklands and St Kilda Road precincts on orders over $80, and a $10 fee may apply below that. Outside those precincts, delivery is available and a fee applies. The minimum order is $80, or $200 if you are more than 15 km from the CBD.
Cold food may arrive up to 90 minutes before your confirmed time, and hot food up to 15 minutes before. For a stand-up lunch with pies and sausage rolls, set the delivery time for when you want to eat, not when people arrive. If we're late, tell us within an hour and we'll credit the order (orders under $1,000 placed by 5pm the day before). Corporate accounts pay by invoice, 14 days after delivery.
If you want to hold the lunch on Derby Day or Stakes Day, both are Saturdays. Weekend orders are available on request for bookings above $1,000, with a 15% surcharge.
Dietary requirements
Stand-up lunches make dietary labelling matter more than a seated one does, because people pick things up on the way past without asking what's in them. Our menu has dedicated gluten free, vegan and vegetarian sections, and dietary items are labelled and packed separately to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
Put the detail in the special instructions when you order. If someone is coeliac or has a serious allergy, say so in those words, since a general gluten free request won't tell the kitchen how careful to be.
Melbourne Cup catering questions
Is Melbourne Cup Day a public holiday in Melbourne? Yes. In 2026 it falls on Tuesday 3 November and is a public holiday across metropolitan Melbourne. Some regional Victorian councils swap it for a different local holiday. Most Melbourne offices are closed, which is why office Cup lunches usually happen on a different day.
When should a Melbourne office hold its Melbourne Cup lunch? Friday 30 October suits most teams, because everyone is in before the long weekend and you can draw the sweep for Tuesday's race. Thursday 5 November, Oaks Day, is the best alternative. Monday 2 November is risky, because many people take it as leave.
How much does Melbourne Cup catering cost per person? With Brisk, from $14.95 a head for a sweep morning tea with scones, fruit skewers and tea and coffee, to $28.65 a head for a stand-up finger food lunch and $30.70 a head for individual lunch boxes with a slice.
How much finger food do I need per person for a Cup lunch? Five savoury pieces and a sweet per person if the lunch replaces a meal. Four pieces a head for a shorter drinks-and-sweep gathering.
Do you deliver catering on Melbourne Cup Day? Cup Day is a public holiday, so call us on 1300 322 240 to check before you plan around a delivery on Tuesday 3 November.
How far ahead should we order Melbourne Cup catering? By 3pm the business day before your lunch. Because Cup Day is not a business day, a lunch on Wednesday 4 November needs to be ordered by 3pm Monday 2 November, and we'd suggest the Friday before.
Book your Cup lunch
Send us the day, the headcount and roughly what you want to spend a head, and we'll come back with a costed menu. Request a quote, or go straight to the menu and prices and build it yourself.
If the Cup lunch is the warm-up for the end-of-year party, our Christmas catering page has this year's prices and the December booking deadlines, and the catering cost per person guide covers everything else.
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