Melbourne Olympic Arts Festival

The Melbourne Olympic Arts Festival was an arts festival held in conjunction with the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne was the first Games to have an arts festival as part of the official program.

The Elizabethan Theatre Trust were going to show its presentation of the Douglas Stewart play Ned Kelly as part of the festival. Reception to this production in Sydney however was so poor it was decided to show Summer of the Seventeenth Doll instead.

There were a number of exhibits of Australian art, and sculpture and performances of Australian music.

Events include: Guests included Oscar Hammerstein and his Australian wife Dorothy, and Sir Dallas Brooks. Events not officially part of the festival but held in association with it included:
 * A Music for the People concert produced by Hector Crawford
 * the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust presented two operas by Mozart, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and The Tintookies
 * the Australian musical Under the Coolibah Tree 
 * the Olympic Follies
 * Thunder Rock by Robert Adrey at the Melbourne Little Theatre