The TODAY team are galloping into Melbourne to kick off festivities for the biggest racing event on the social calendar, the 2009 Melbourne Cup Carnival.
 
To celebrate the Carnival, TODAY will broadcast LIVE from Bourke Street Mall this Thursday and Friday. Hosts Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, along with Cameron Williams, Georgie Gardner, Richard Wilkins, Steve Jacobs and Hollywood gossip guru Richard Reid, will bring all the fun, fashion and excitement of the TODAY show to the streets of Melbourne.
 
On Thursday, David Jones racing ambassador and Channel Nine racing personality, Emma Freedman, will visit the team to talk about this season’s hottest Spring racing looks. There will be a fashion parade showcasing the latest racewear looks by David Jones and their enviable stable of Australian designers. And eight-time ARIA nominee Vanessa Amorosi will rock the mall with a live performance of her number one hit single, This Is Who I Am.
 
On Friday, TODAY asks viewers to come down to Bourke Street Mall dressed in their racing finery to compete in the Best Dressed Racewear Competition. David Jones ambassador Megan Gale will be a special guest judge searching the crowd for the most stylish person to win a $1000 David Jones shopping spree and two tickets to the exclusive Lexus marquee on Crown Oaks Day. Emma Freedman will also return to discuss the favourites for the Victoria Derby on Saturday and the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
 
If you are in Melbourne make sure you come down or tune in to TODAY on Nine this Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30 for the celebration that will stop the TV station.