Art, music, performances and family fun are taking over Newcastle this spring, with New Annual 2026 offering a packed program of events including a heap that won’t cost a cent.
Kicking things off on Friday, 25 September is the First Night Art Party, which will take over Laman Street in partnership with Newcastle Art Gallery.
The free, family-friendly celebration features live performances from Aleksiah, Djanaba and Ngaiire, alongside the launch of Angela Tiatia’s MUSE, immersive gallery experiences, roving performers, drop-in workshops, food trucks and a pop-up bar.
The Newcastle Ocean Baths will become one of the festival’s key free venues, with SOAK: Live at the Baths running throughout New Annual and bringing international and Newcastle talent to the iconic pool at sunset.
The program also includes Hermitude with Claire O’Brien and Rose White on 26 September, The Tide that Brought You In on 27 September featuring Steph Russell, Grace Aberhart, Sophie Hawthorne, and Freyja Garbett.
SOAK will round out with Kobie Dee and 92WRLD on 2 October and Karen Lee Andrews on 3 October.
There’s plenty for families and art lovers to explore, too. At Charlestown Square, Bloom turns the centre into an immersive garden of colourful foliage and characters from 25 September to 4 October, while Mr Squiggle & Friends at Newcastle Museum celebrates the creative world of Norman Hetherington.
Cavitation at The Lock-Up explores tides, pressure and migration through sculpture, photography, moving image, tapestry and sound, with the accompanying Cavitation Breathing Ocean installation bringing floating artwork to Newcastle’s Canoe Pool.
Ocean Rituals at Dixon Park Beach showcases Penelope Green’s photography of Newcastle’s coastline and ocean swimming community, while Damien Frost’s Night Flowers at Watt Space Gallery explores Newcastle’s queer and alternative communities through photography.
AT SEA from Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub brings a 30-minute dance work to the Canoe Pool, with dancers responding to the tide, wind and sand, while Curtain Call: Strut your Stuff invites audiences into an all-ages, interactive fashion experience using discarded textiles.
Over at Carrington Foreshore, LENNY’S COUNTRY offers a family-friendly celebration of local Indigenous culture through storytelling, knowledge sharing, Worimi art and illuminated puppetry.
Newcastle Museum will also host NM:PM: Punk!, a loud celebration of local punk featuring Boudicca, No Reason, Bitchcraft and The Porkers, plus DIY Alley, merch and a human-sized claw machine.
Music, food, photography and culture round out the free offerings, with Global Table transforming Wheeler Place into a two-night celebration of world-class food, live performance and cultural storytelling hosted by Benjamin Law and Jennifer Wong.
Rock fans can also dive into Framed in Sound: Selected Works of Tony Mott, an exhibition at Newcastle Museum showcasing four decades of photographs capturing artists including Madonna and the Rolling Stones, while New Spring at Newcastle Art Gallery marks the Australian debut of sensory installations by A.A. Murakami.
All of the events featured in this guide are listed as free in the New Annual 2026 program. The free program runs across Newcastle and surrounds from 25 September to 4 October, with the full New Annual program available via newannual.com.
