Make some great new memories
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY AS WE START THE YEAR WITH HOPE
AT THE start of the new year, there are certainly plenty of events already planned throughout Newcastle and the wider region to look forward to.
To give everyone a different kind of booster, here is a top 16 pick of cheery dates to note on your 2022 calendar.
Hadrian’s Wall 1900 Festival
This is going to be an absolute cracker.
If you’ve a big birthday to celebrate then you should certainly do it in style and with our Roman wall’s whopping 1,900th birthday coming up that means parties – and lots of them – and an open invitation to join in the fun.
With a whole festival dedicated to the landmark occasion, there will be plenty events throughout the year focused on the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site.
They will kick off on January 24 – Emperor Hadrian’s birthday – and will culminate with Saturnalia on December 17-23, coinciding with the dates of the Roman festival it’s named after, which honoured the ancients’ god Saturn.
There is a lot yet to be revealed but the 150 events planned so far include a Japanese manga series bringing Roman history to life ‘like never before’; a Roman-theme city of light celebration and a range of walks, talks, food festivals and reenactments.
Lindisfarne Gospels 2022 programme
Inspired by the upcoming visit of the Lindisfarne Gospels, this is a year-long programme of cultural events that will play out in towns and cities across the region and will range from the likes of displays at Durham Cathedral – plus a light projection, music, dance, a family fun day and food market – to a Festival of Flame in Northumberland.
Beginning this month, the programme will peak in the autumn with two new visitor attractions: the new Faith Museum in Bishop Auckland and an Ad Gefrin Visitor Experience and Distillery in Wooler, where an immersive experience will help bring to life the Northumbrian Golden Age and the court of its Kings and Queens.
Then comes the big exhibition itself, which will bring the 1,300-year-old Gospels on a landmark loan from the British Library to Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle from September.
The Late Shows
Making much-missed a return free in 2022 event, will be which this sees cultural venues open up afterdark to offer visitors a chance to see behind the scenes and indulge in activities and workshops. Running from May 13-14, this self-styled ‘culture crawl, which is organised by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and made its debut in 2007, traditionally focuses on venues around Ouseburn on the Friday evening and is followed by the big night on Saturday when museums, galleries, studios and landmark historical buildings around the city centre and in Gateshead host tours, performances and parties.
Kynren
The outdoor spectacular, which last year added a whole host of a new attractions with an 11Arches Park at its vast Bishop Auckland site, is hinting at an extra treat in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Kynren – an Epic Tale of England – features a huge cast of human plus animal stars in a show that rattles through the country’s history, highlighting key moments and reigning monarchs with showpiece action pieces culminating in a spectacular firework finale.
And it seems that June 3 will be the date for a special performance, bringing history bang up to date to mark the Queen’s 70-year anniversary before the show returns for its annual run from August 6 to September 10. Tickets are due to go on sale in April.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus
In what sounds a curiously compelling mix, this new event will bring a line-up featuring Noel Gallagher and circus acts to Newcastle on June 9.
This one-day-only festival – billed as a Las Vegas style show – will make its debut on the Town Moor where music and live performance will combine under a Big Top with capacity for 10,000 people Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will be the star attraction while also on the music bill will be The Charlatans and local talent Andrew Cushin.
On the circus side, there will be around 30 entertainers including tightrope walkers and jugglers. There’s to be a Ferris wheel too.
Beamish 50s Town
There’s no precise big reveal date yet but the next phase of Beamish Museum’s 50s Town development is set to open this year and it promises to be quite an event.
When The Chronicle was given a sneak peek behind the scenes in November, the latest development in the County Durham museum’s £20m Remaking Beamish project was coming on apace. The Fifties
farmhouse – the next building of the era to follow the Welfare Hall – was poised to open, while work on the nearby main town area, with its terrace comprising a fish and chip shop, hairdresser, cafe and replica of Norman Cornish’s home, was nearing completion.
These new additions to the museum site will mean visitors will be able to go all-out Fifites and that includes booking themselves into that salon for an ‘updo’.
Film buffs will have to be patient however as the adjacent 1950s cinema has yet to take shape.
The Hoppings
Bring it on! A spin on the waltzer or airborn ride on the Mach 5 could be enough to blow away the cobwebs and the prospect looms large.
With the world’s largest travelling funfair being absent from the Town Moor for the past two years, its summer return is set to get thrillseekers’ pulses racing.
Now under new managers, the funfair – a Newcastle institution for well over 100 years – is promising return some high-octane thrills upon its June 17-25 arrival. The excitement is such there’s even a countdown under way online.
Sunderland International Airshow
Another local favourite that’s been much missed over the past two years is the popular airshow, which also seems set for a comeback to the Roker and Seaburn seafront from July 22-24.
The 32nd annual event, which will combine eye-boggling aerial displays with military gatherings of RAF, Army and Navy personnel, will be accompanied by attractions on the ground including activities and entertainment.
Upcoming details will be announced on its website.
Northumberland Plate
Another Newcastle institution, and a staple in the region’s sporting calender, Plate Day made a return last summer but with a smaller scale affair.
The next promises more of a return to style and – on June 25 – it will mark the culmination of three days’ racing and will feature that postponed performance by DJ Pete Tong, who is set to take to the decks to whip up some Ibiza atmosphere whatever the weather.
Northern Pride
After two years of focusing upon online events due to the pandemic, Newcastle’s annual celebration of the LGBT community is also set to see a return to its usual format this summer, with a June 22-24 run on Newcastle’s Town Moor.
Its theme this time is to be Remember, Resist, Rise Up and in addition to the usual packed weekend of music and activities, look out for a Life in Lockdown documentary series, exhibition, book and a mental health conference.
What’s more, there will be a Forth Plinth in the city centre – a platform showcasing the trans, non-binary and gender diverse community – and Local Heroes Awards to celebrate LGBTQ+ people and allies who have made an impact over the past 50 years.
Family dog show Paws with Pride is back too after a four-year gap as is Ouseburn Family Pride, following the success of its debut in September.
Little Lindi
This is a new family-friendly camping festival – a spin-off from the popular Lindisfarne festival – and will play out at the other end of the region, on the Lambton Estate in County Durham, from July 22-25.
Said to be a perfect way to introduce kids to the festival experience, it will offer far more than music – expect bushcraft, theatre performances, storytelling, circus sessions, storytelling tents and an outdoor cinema.
Those who aren’t in to camping can take up the luxury option of glamping and hot tubs – and there’s an array of food options to offer further comfort.
Ladies Day
After a more cautious event than usual last year, Newcastle Racecourse is wasting no time in bigging up this summer’s social highlight of the year and tickets are already on sale.
Second only to the Northumberland Plate in race day importance, Ladies Day is more about the fashion stakes for many and a welcome opportunity to go all-out with heels and fascinators and indulge in a prosecco or several.
In an added extra on its July 23 date, Olly Murs will be providing the post-race entertainment.
Lamplight Festival
Expect the Kaiser Chiefs and Deacon Blue to get Sunderland rocking when this much-postponed music festival gets the chance to make its debut in August.
Live music in Mowbray Park will be warmly welcomed back by fans who can kick up their heels from August 7-8. Jack Savoretti recently announced he’s also signed up to appear in the run-up, making Sunderland his second local date following on from a City Hall gig in March.
Great North Run
Oggy Oggy Oggy – the delayed 40-year anniversary special of the world’s most famous half-marathon took place on September 12 and it was great to see it back.
With Covid safety concerns in mind, a new route bypassed Shields2, looped around Gateshead and took it through the city centre with the aim of avoiding a build-up of crowds at the usual hot spots. The good news for many of its regular runners is that its 2022 outing will mark a return to normal: South Shields will again be in on the action at the finish line when the run makes a return on September 11.
Likely Lads visit ‘home’
The writers of some of TV’s best-loved comedy series will be travelling to Newcastle from LA on a rare visit.
Ian La Frenais, 85, who is from North Tyneside, and 84-year-old Dick Clement created Geordie favourites Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and they will visit Newcastle on one of their two UK dates in September to tell us all about them.
The writer and producers will be at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House on September 23 to share stories about creating some of the most popular British TV comedies of all time, which also include Porridge and Lovejoy.
Rugby League World Cup
World-class sport is heading to the city with Newcastle finally able to take up its hosting duties for the Rugby League World Cup 2021.
Four matches in the rescheduled tournament are set to head north, including the men’s opening event, which will see England take on Samoa at St James’s Park at 2.30pm on October 15.
The Kingston Park home of Newcastle Falcons and Newcastle Thunder will take its turn to play host too, including for the men’s group B Scotland v Italy match on October 16.