New Annual Festival 2026

New Annual returns to Newcastle from 25 September to 4 October 2026, a ten-day festival of art, music and ideas that spreads across the city's streets, stages and iconic locations. It's built around public art, live performance and music, and it's designed for you to create, play and explore the city alongside the artists involved.

The programme covers a fair few disciplines — visual arts, dance, theatre, music and multimedia — and it's not all for one kind of crowd. There are thought-provoking public art pieces to stumble across, live performances, and family-friendly experiences, so you can pick your own way through it over the ten days. Two of the confirmed highlights are SOAK: Live at the Baths, a music series, and the First Night Art Party, which kicks things off.

This year, the festival is putting a particular focus on local talent with MADE NEW, a programme launched after the success of the 2025 festival. It's set up to amplify artists from the region and showcase new work that tells a story in an unusual way, plays with form, or responds to a local place. If you've been following the local scene, that's where you'll find the newest material from people working right here in the region.

New Annual is supported by the City of Newcastle, which provides marketing, publicity and in-kind venue and technical production support. The festival runs from 25 September to 4 October 2026 across various locations in Newcastle and its surrounds.