Festival Season in the City: A Guide to Newcastle's Festival Calendar
Our round-up of some of the most exciting events in the city's forthcoming festival season
Now we’re easing into spring, festival season is almost upon us and as ever, Newcastle is stuffed to the gills with all sorts of fabulous events.
With old favourites returning and some new happenings added to the calendar too, there are festivals celebrating food and drink and the arts, and of course lots of festivals full of exciting musical line-ups. It’s going to be a busy summer in the city for sure, so we’ve gathered together some of the most exciting upcoming festivals for you to peruse and get tickets for.
Food & Drink
Gin, Rum & Vodka Festival @ Boiler Shop
Gin is probably the most popular it’s been since the days of Hogarth, and this big festival at Newcastle’s appropriately Victorian Boiler Shop aims to showcase the best the domestic gin industry has to offer. But rum and vodka get a look in too, and the sampling tickets allow you to try tipples from a vast range of distillers and producers. As well as samples, there will be bars offering cocktails and beer as well as the spirits, and there’ll be music and entertainment all day too. There are two sessions on the day – midday to 4pm and 6pm to 10pm – and your ticket also gets you a tote bag with a sampling cup and more.
Saturday 12th July 2025, From £17.50
Tyneside Vegan & Music Festival @ Domain, Northumbria NUSU
This annual celebration of all things vegan is back at Northumbria University Students' Union this May. There’ll be food and drink stalls, plus all sorts of ethical traders (clothing, crafts, home supplies, animal rights and the rest), demos and activities and a day of poetry and music too. It runs from 11am – 3:30pm.
Saturday 17th May 2025, From £3
Newcastle Beer & Cider Festival @ Northumbria University Student’s Union
Newcastle Beer & Cider Festival also makes a welcome return to Northumbria University this spring. Now in its 47th year, the festival is bringing a smorgasbord of beer and cider to the city - more than 100 of the former and 30 of the latter - as all manner of other tipples and a packed schedule of musical entertainment from the likes of Brad Thompson, Tom Taylor and Rich Gilroy). The various ticket options all include drinks tokens.
Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th April 2025, From £16 (CAMRA members) / £21 (general admission)
2nd Bite for Cancer Research @ Wylam Brewery
Following an incredible debut year raising over £80,000 for Cancer Research UK, Bite Back returns for 2025 with the 2nd Bite! The brainchild of Sian & Cal Byerley - owners of acclaimed Northumberland restaurant Pine – will once again bring 20 Michelin-starred chefs from across UK to Wylam Brewery to cook up some seriously tasty street food while raising stacks of cash to support the amazing work that Cancer Research does. So far, the chef line-up includes; Chet Sharma (BiBi), Gareth Ward (Ynyshir), Ian Waller (Restaurant Pine), Tom Shepherd (Upstairs), Josh Angus (Hide), Mark Donald (The Glenturret Lalique), Josh Overington (Restaurant Mýse), Johnnie Crowe (Restaurant St Barts), and Alex Bond (Alchemilla). Entry is free, but tokens priced at £10 each are needed to purchase food.
Sunday 6th July 2025, Free entry (tokens cost £10 each)
Newcastle Food & Drink Festival @ Leazes Park
Taking place at the end of May in Leazes Park and with an emphasis on local food, drink and talent, the festival offers chef demonstrations, traders, live music, international street food stalls, kids entertainment, comedy, magic and more! The festival’s charity partner is Tyneside & Northumberland MIND, so mental health and well-being will be represented too. The market stalls are bound to be a particular highlight, with dozens of traders offering something for everyone. Following a sell-out debut year, it’s one that foodies won’t want to miss!
Saturday 31st May – Sunday 1st June 2025, Day Tickets from £7.95, Weekend Tickets from £11.95
Blackfriars Beer Festival @ Blackfriars Restaurant
Hop to Blackfriars Restaurant this May Bank Holiday for their first ever beer festival! Guests will be able to sample beers from eight local breweries – including Blackfriars’ very own St. Dominic’s Brewery! – in the gorgeous surroundings of the restaurant’s cloister garden and medieval banquet hall. Plus, there’ll be street food from the Blackfriars BBQ, and live music on Saturday and Sunday afternoons to keep the good vibes going. Tickets are under a tenner, with £1 from each sale going to support the valuable work that the Newcastle United Foundation carry out.
Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th May 2025, From £9.50
Music
Aelius Alternative @ Various Locations
Newcastle has a strong reputation for a thriving and evolving underground music scene, which every now and then throws up a band or artist that go on to conquer the charts and stages of the UK and beyond. And it’s festivals like Aelius Alternative – which makes its return to Toon this year – that help get those bands noticed. Taking place the city centre, the festival has an impressive and varied line-up of established and upcoming local talent and is followed by an after-party at The Globe to keep you dancing till the early hours.
Saturday 5th April 2025, From £15
Lost Minds @ Exhibition Park
A ten-hour extravaganza of dance music greats across multiple stages with high-end production values, Lost Minds is clearly going to go off! The line-up includes the likes of Scooter, Ben Nicky, Schak, Will Atkinson and many many more, from trance to hard dance and beyond. There’s an official after-party to be announced too, so keep an eye out!
Saturday 12th July 2025, From £67
Great British Tribute Festival @ Times Square
Tribute bands are such an important part of the British cultural landscape that they even get their own festivals now, like this two-day event in Times Square on the late May bank holiday weekend. Where else can you see the likes of The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Oasis and Madness (or something very much like them) in one weekend on one stage, and still have change from a twenty?!
Saturday 3rd – Sunday 4th May 2025, from £15
Come Together Festival @ Newcastle Town Moor
A newcomer to Newcastle’s festival scene, Come Together Festival is a collaborative event between TEG Europe, the Freemen of Newcastle and Newcastle City Council – bringing five days of culture, talent and food to the Town Moor. Robbie Williams and Kings of Leon are set to headline the Wednesday and Sunday – with Andrew Cushin, Lottery Winners, Courteeners and The Snuts also filling the line-up.
Wednesday 4th – Sunday 8th June 2025, From £82.50
Noughty 90s @ Leazes Park
Taking place in Leazes Park, which is having a busy summer, the Noughty 90s Festival aims to recapture the spirit of the nineties and noughties with three stages of nostalgic acts. Darren Styles, Atomic Kitten and DJ Sammy are set to headline, with other acts booked to appear including N-Trance, Love Inc feat Simone, and Andy Whitby. Stage 3 has a host of rave acts too – so there’s plenty to keep everyone buzzing!
Saturday 23rd August 2025, From £35
Arts & Culture
The Late Shows @ Various Venues
The Late Shows really are one of the greatest things to happen in Newcastle all year - two evenings of special happenings in venues, art spaces and the like across the city. As with previous years, the Friday night is focused on the thriving artistic community around the Ouseburn, while Saturday broadens out to the rest of Newcastle and into Gateshead. From printmakers to art exhibitions, live music to bars, crafting to historical tours, The Late Shows really does show the best Newcastle has to offer.
Friday 16th – Saturday 17th May 2025, Free
ClassicsFest @ Multiple Venues
Following the festival’s debut last year, The Lit & Phil bring back ClassicsFest for 2025, taking over the city with fascinating discussions, engaging lectures and mesmerising performances. For their second instalment, the limelight falls on Marcus Tullius Cicero – a Roman orator and lawyer – but there’s no need to don a toga or become an expert in ancient history to enjoy their wide range of events!
Thursday 15th – Saturday 17th May 2025, Free unless stated otherwise
Newcastle Pride @ Various Venues
This year’s Pride Festival is is focused on the city centre, aiming to show the Newcastle queer community as ‘unapologetically visible’, with many of the activities centred around Times Square. Running from July 19th – 20th, the Times Square stage has big names like Pixie Lott, Gok Wan, Michael Marouli and Livin’ Joy, while there’s a Curious Arts Stage at Northern Stage, a Family & Youth Zone at the Theatre Royal, a Health & Well-Being Zone at the Civic Centre and a Trans+ Zone at Alphabetti Theatre. Meanwhile, the Market Village will be at Grey's Monument, with stalls, campaigners, activities and more. The traditional Pride March will move from the Civic Centre on Saturday (more than 16,000 people marched last year!) and there will be a closing candlelight vigil at Times Square on Sunday from 9pm where we can remember those we’ve lost.
19th – 20th July 2025, Times Square day tickets from £7.50
Newcastle Mela @ Exhibition Park
Newcastle’s annual Mela is always one of the most colourful and vibrant cultural events on the calendar, and this year’s event will be no exception. Details are still being finalised but expect two days of music, art, food, dance and more in Exhibition Park, celebrating the cultures of the city’s Pakistani, Bengali, Indian and other South Asian communities. It’s an inclusive friendly family event that everyone will love.
Sunday 23rd – Monday 25th August 2025, Free
This might be the city’s biggest festival season ever, with barely a weekend passing without some big event in one of Newcastle’s open spaces or cultural centres. From brilliant representations of queer or ethnic communities to arts events and of course a steady run of big music events, there’s a dozen reasons to get off your sofa and out into the sun this spring and summer.
Main image: Lost Minds
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