What's On

With one-off and annual festivals and events, a selection of theatres, cinemas and music venues big and small, professional and amateur sporting activities, clubs and events as well as thousands of years of history and heritage, world-class galleries and exhibitions and miles and miles of rolling countryside, picturesque coast and tranquil woodland not to mention more bars, cafes restaurants and clubs than you could possibly count, NewcastleGateshead is guaranteed to have something to keep you entertained, whatever your tastes.

It’s rare to find anywhere so diverse that amazes visitors at every turn with its dialogue between ultra-modern and ancient, urban and rural, tradition and innovation and its unique blend of the world-class and well-known with all that is local, individual, unspoiled and full of character.

With the Royal Shakespeare Company regularly visiting Newcastle’s Theatre Royal whilst the Sunderland Empire plays host to West End shows; Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena and The Sage Gateshead attracting just about everyone from the Scissor Sisters to Eddie Izzard and not forgetting Northern Symphonia, and cultural attractions like BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art bringing leading artists including Damien Hirst and Yoko Ono to the region, art-lovers and culture vultures are well catered-for in NewcastleGateshead.

Sporting enthusiasts will find something for them, too, with two large-scale football stadiums in the form of Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Gateshead’s International Stadium welcoming international athletics stars as well as climbing walls, surfing schools, ice rinks, bowling alleys and much more.
 
While Hadrian’s Wall and the Castle Keep provide a slice of history in the modern environment, excellent museums such as Great North Museum and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens have changing programmes of events exploring everything from local history to the Earth’s evolutionary story.

Finally, with our innovative programme of festivals and events seeing everything from internationally acclaimed acts playing in the open sea air at the Mouth of the Tyne Festival to the Red Arrows’ spectacular flying displays at the Sunderland Airshow, the biggest free, annual airshow in Europe, as well as architectural icons built to scale out of cake, Victorian parks transformed into magical winter wonderlands and world-class venues becoming urban playgrounds, it’s clear to see that no matter what you’re into - from the well-known to the totally obscure - you’ll find something to suit you here.