Wangaratta (/ˌwæŋɡəˈrætə/ WANG-gə-RAT-ə[3]) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, 236 km (147 mi) from Melbourne along the Hume Highway.

[4] The city is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers, which drain the northwestern slopes of the Victorian Alps.

The first squatter to arrive was Thomas Rattray in 1838 who built a hut (on the site of the Wangaratta RSL) founding a settlement known as "Ovens Crossing".

[citation needed] The population at the turn of the century reached 2,500 and the centre had developed an imposing streetscape of hotels, commercial public and religious buildings.

The geographical layout of the city is unusual in that the business district is located at the north-eastern extremity of the urban area, with outlying suburbs extending only to the south and west.

The reason for this arrangement is that the area beyond the rivers, to the north and east of the business district, was until the 1990s prone to flooding and so unsuitable for building.

Occasional severe heat waves are caused by hot, dry air from the central deserts of Australia moving over the area.

[citation needed] Wangaratta has cool nights and mornings in the summer, due in part to its south-western location exposing it to cold airmasses off the Southern Ocean.

The city gets 105.1 clear days annually, which is akin to Sydney and Wollongong,[citation needed] however the distribution is wildly different; Wangaratta being much sunnier from December to March, but the inverse from May to September.

Victorian Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell said this was because "Council has failed to provide effective leadership and service for the community".

[15] In state politics, Wangaratta is located in the Legislative Assembly district of Ovens Valley currently held by the National Party of Australia.

The Division of Indi was seen as a safe Liberal Party of Australia seat from 1977 until 2013, when the sitting member, Sophie Mirabella was defeated by independent candidate Cathy McGowan.

[29] Between 1953 and 1956, the North Eastern Car Club ran motor racing meetings on the gravel and earth airstrip located on Wangarratta Common, south of the town centre.

The Outdoor Ball featuring Latin inspired music and international food vendors is another main attraction for the town.

The Docker street campus offers a broad range of courses from business studies to music with a central area containing a cafeteria, library and student services.

The Christensens Lane campus on the outskirts of Wangaratta is the home for the National Centre for Equine Education as well as providing courses in horticulture.

A city bus service runs every half an hour during the day on weekdays and on Saturday mornings on a route covering Wangaratta's West End, the business district, Yarrunga and more recently, Yarrawonga Road.

Another short 5' 3" gauge branch line ran west to a wheat silo located on the north side of the Ovens River at Boorhaman.

[34] Van Hessen Australia is an Australian sausage skin manufacturer whose factory is situated on Shanley street in Wangaratta and impacted local communities with odour pollution in 2022.

The company exceeded its licence boundary and received several notices from EPA to prevent further smell and maintain stable conditions.

[36] In December 2023, Van Hessen was found guilty in court and was ordered to provide $75,000 to an environmental improvement project in South Wangaratta.