SOAK: Live at the Baths

SOAK: Live at the Baths returns to the Newcastle Ocean Baths this September, bringing four nights of free live music to the water's edge. It's a repeat of one of the standout events from New Annual 2025, curated by Tim Levinson (Urthboy) with help from Matt Field and Katerina Skoumbas. The series turns the baths into an open-air stage, with each session running an hour and the whole programme fully wheelchair accessible.

Night one, Saturday 26 September, pairs ARIA Award-winning duo Hermitude with Newcastle DJ and Ode Label founder Claire O'Brien — a combination the organisers say may never happen again. Night two, Sunday 27 September, is titled The Tide That Brought You In and centres on gratitude, celebrating Newcastle's jazz culture with a string of players and guests drawn from R&B, blues, industrial rock and soul: Steph Russell, Grace Aberhart, Sophie Hawthorne and Freyja Garbett, plus The Illume Girls, Jayden Kitchener-Waters, Ponzi Scheme, Saylor and Pa777ience. Night three, Friday 2 October, brings Gomeroi artist Kobie Dee and his storytelling alongside the independent Pasifika collective 92WRLD. The final evening, Saturday 3 October, is held by Karen Lee Andrews, whose career spans more than two decades and blends soul, blues, gospel and rock with her Polynesian heritage.

Each session runs from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, so you're catching the music as the sun goes down over the baths. Entry is free for all four nights, and the whole thing is family-friendly, making it easy to drop in for one or stick around for the lot.