Newcastle’s Civic Theatre is opening the door to the supernatural, with three Paranormal Investigation Nights set to give brave visitors the chance to hunt for ghosts inside one of the city’s most historic venues.
Running for the first time in the theatre’s history, the special after-dark experiences will take participants into rarely accessed areas of the nearly 100-year-old building.
Armed with paranormal investigation equipment, guests will be encouraged to search for unexplained activity and see whether the Civic’s long-running ghost stories have any truth behind them.
One of the theatre’s most famous supposed spirits is a friendly ghost known as Joe, who has reportedly brushed past staff over the years.
Local legend even claims Joe warned a former Deputy Lord Mayor about the 1989 Newcastle earthquake while they were on the main stage.
The two-and-a-half-hour experiences will begin with a short historical introduction from a Civic Theatre guide before Newcastle Ghost Tours takes over.
Participants will get the chance to become paranormal investigators themselves, using equipment including a spirit box, which scans radio frequencies in an attempt to communicate with spirits, and electronic trip wires designed to detect movement or changes in energy.
The Civic Theatre has long been one of the Hunter’s most requested locations for paranormal investigations, thanks to its history and stories of ghost sightings.
The nights are designed to cater to everyone from supernatural first-timers and the simply curious to experienced ghost hunters, offering a very different way to explore the iconic Newcastle venue.
The Civic Theatre Paranormal Investigation Nights will take place on 28, 29 and 30 September 2026, with each session running for two-and-a-half hours. The theatre is also adding seven more Behind the Curtain backstage tours across the same dates, including a wheelchair-accessible session.
