The Late Shows are a highlight in the NewcastleGateshead culture calendar. Returning on the 17th and 18th of May this year, the late night culture crawl transforms the city into a bustling hub of creativity. The event is jam-packed over the two nights, with the Friday focusing on venues in Ouseburn only and the Saturday moving into Newcastle and Gateshead.
Read on to discover the must see venues and exhibitions at the Late Shows 2024.
Friday 17th May
The Late Shows runs from 6pm-10pm on Friday 17th May
Resident artist Dan McBean (Mr Watson Design) will be hosting a very special evening to support Music v Cancer, with an exhibition of his signed limited edition fine art prints. Expect live music, Spinning Superiority on the decks, and a chance to own these exclusive artworks.
Star and Shadow Cinema is an alternative social, cultural, arts and community hub run by a collective of volunteers. For the Late Shows this year, discover The World is Diving; a free evening of food, DJs, exhibition and cinematic show reels for your listening and viewing pleasure.
The Biscuit Tin Print Club is back with the opportunity to make your own unique linocut or drypoint print to take home. If you’ve never made an original artists’ print before don’t worry, the printmakers and Print Club volunteers will support you through the process.
The NewBridge Project will be open late on Friday 17 May, with an exciting exhibition featuring works made by Newcastle University first year Fine Art students. There will be a licensed bar serving soft and alcoholic drinks. NewBridge Books will also be open where you can find some great deals and discounts on unique books, zines, and publications from independent and radical publishers.
School of Design, Northumbria University
The Design Feminisms Research Group aim to explore different relationships between design and feminisms in the North East by making a collaborative, sprawling mixed media manifesto, using clay, fabrics and photographs.
A Grade II* listed building, designed by A. B. Higham in 1861, which today holds a unique partnership between church, school and circus is the venue for a special show for this year's Late Shows. Join the community of arts organisations that reside within Christ Church - see music and circus performances throughout the evening and take the opportunity to try a new skill. An exhibition will also tell the history of Christ Church and Shieldfield.
Oceans of Kindness is an exploration of the cumulative power of words, creativity and kindness sparked by children’s imagination. The exhibition features large scale illuminated willow fish lanterns, adorned with local children’s poetry. Stamp your own beautiful ocean scene using stamps made from recycled materials and write your own poems of justice to add to your waves.
The Biscuit Factory is the UK’s largest independent contemporary art, craft & design gallery set in the heart of Newcastle’s cultural quarter. Rooted is an evening of connection, community and climate hope. Experience the life sized pop-up bookshop made of an eco material found in fungus. Surrounded by her solo show Finding Hope, watch Northern artist Laura Pedley live paint, enjoy a portraiture photography exhibition North East Heroes and shop sustainably with RE:BOURN a pre-owned clothing pop-up in the brand new space The Garden Room. Gather and round your night off with locally sourced food and drink.
Incubate has recently moved to Ouseburn to offer premium facilities for artists working in print, of all abilities. On Friday 17th May, there will be a chance to enjoy a showcase of modern techniques, including printing, using laser projection and etching metal with electricity.
Enjoy improvised music, have a go at life drawing, explore open artists' studios and the community co-working roof space. Outside Cobalt enjoy live music by the fire and take part in some printing with the people’s press.
Northern Print is the centre for excellence in printmaking in the North East of England. See the Endless Forms, Most Beautiful exhibition celebrating our natural world and highlighting species at risk. Make your own unique print in the studio and meet some of the exhibiting artists.
Discover Moon Light Guide Night - An installation by British-South Korean paper artist and bookbinder Yvette Ja. The artist’s skills of map folding, origami, paper cutting and book binding will be combined in a stunning window display and exhibition exclusively for The Late Shows. Yvette’s work will be showcased alongside night time themes explored by the team of 28 in-house artists and artisans who have a permanent spot in the Ouseburn based shop.
Discover the charm of Newcastle's oldest artist studio building, offering a peek into the working world of a diverse range of creators. Engage with artists, explore paintings, ceramics, sculptures, jewellery, furniture, and more while enjoying live music. A unique glimpse into the vibrant heart of Newcastle's art scene.
Take an opportunity to explore the magical, historical building of Seven Stories after hours. See never before seen pieces from the literary collection, interact with historical characters and sit down and relax for a spooky storytelling session around the history of this Grade 2 listed venue. There will be a dedicated quiet space available within the Story Station on Level 4 for any visitors who need a place to relax and ear defenders are also available.
Be the first to view Jim's latest paintings, capturing North East locations, from Alnmouth down to Marsden Rocks. He'll also be exhibiting a selection of small preliminary art pieces, that rarely see the light of day. On the evening, visit Jim in his studio, where he'll be on hand to give an insight into his working practice, from the initial thumbnail sketch to the realised painting.
Ouseburn Farm goes Ranchero. A night of Mexican themed music, food and drinks - Tacos, Margaritas and much more in the farmyard. Meanwhile, upstairs in the event space, Network Artists North East (NANE) will also be offering participatory arts workshops and their talented members will have artwork on display that embraces the Farm's eco principles and themes linked to animals, spring, renewal, or birth.
Explore Newcastle’s hidden heritage. Join a short 20-minute taster tour of the Victoria Tunnel, an underground wagonway running two and a half miles beneath the city. Find out about how this ingenious feat of Victorian engineering was built, and what life was like for the thousands of citizens who sheltered here in WWII. Taster tours will take place between 6pm – 9pm and the on the hour walks are walk in only.
Step back in time and explore a Home Guard display. See a collection of historical artefacts and try on replica uniforms. Learn about the Home Guard's roles, equipment, and recruitment from knowledgeable enthusiasts. All items are deactivated for safety.
Toffee Factory and The Cumberland Arms come together once more for an evening of music, merriment and making with Ladies of Midnight Blue. A thriving and refurbished new building in Ouseburn providing contemporary spaces for a range of digital and creative businesses, from start-ups in a shared workspace to larger offices for established companies.
Gateshead born abstract Artist, Jonny Bainbridge, will be resident at The Bottleworks, where he will be exhibiting his collection of recent works. He will be on site to discuss his ideas and techniques which will also include interactive demonstrations and activities with the chance to take home a self made souvenir.
Take a peek through the keyhole around the former Maling Pottery, once one of the world's largest pottery factories, now transformed into Newcastle's coolest place to work whilst retaining some of the important historical features. Learn about the yard’s past as Maling’s Pottery and have a go at creating your own coaster, inspired by the award-winning tiled wall.
Saturday 18th May
Shipley Art Gallery
Enjoy a night of crafting and creativity led by Gateshead based makers, creators and organisations. The evening will be a showcase of activities that take place both within the gallery and beyond. You'll also be able to enjoy live music, and there'll be opportunities to make your own takeaway artwork. The Lounge area will be a dedicated quiet space available for any visitors who need a place to take time out.
Gateshead Central Library
Be inspired by the beauty of trees in Emerald Explorers: Towering Trees. Create colourful collage leaves, have a go at printing with artist Ali Wilkes and visit MakerPlace to personalise a tree themed air freshener (small charge). There's also an exhibition of artwork inspired by nature and birdsong by Mike Collier in the gallery. Then grab a drink from the bar and enjoy some live music!
The Kittiwake Trust Multilingual Library
Visit the library which houses books in more than 100 languages while listening to poets reading their work in many different languages, there’ll also be ad-hoc music performances throughout the evening.
Green Heart Collective
Join Green Heart in tackling textile waste by creating a handmade Sew Peace heart to place outside for someone to find. Find out more about the damaging effects of the fast fashion industry and how we can all make a difference. Expect community vibes, live music, snacks and heaps of creativity.
Orbis Community (West Street)
Orbis Community has transformed an old Gateshead bank into ‘The Creative Exchange’, inspired by ‘People and Place’. Newcastle and Gateshead art students will work alongside Orbis Community studio members to exchange written words for handmade creative gifts. The Open studios include printmaking and collage taster sessions, installations, drawing and ceramics workshops.
Orbis Community (High Street)
Orbis Community will be opening the gates to their courtyard for visitors to enjoy amazing music and food and Atlas North East will be opening their studios.
Vane
‘People and Place’ is a thematic exhibition that brings together creative work by students from Gateshead College, Newcastle University, and Northumbria University alongside artists drawn from Orbis Community and those working with Vane gallery. As well as viewing the work on display, visitors are invited to meet the artists.
Maker Space
Maker Space is a community owned and run workshop featuring an eclectic group of makers, creatives, programmers, scientists and engineers. You will be able to meet the team, see their fun electrical, mechanical and craft projects, and witness the 3D printer in action.
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Baltic's doors will be staying open later for an evening look at the Open Submission 2024 with over 100 works by artists and makers from the North East of England. Join in with a creative artist-led session in Front Room with two of the artists featured in Open Submission. You can also enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition by Baltic's friendly Crew team.
St Mary's Heritage Centre
Expect a bumper packed evening of making, creating and exploring the riverside. Create your own riverside inspired prints with Theresa Easton, craft plant inspired embroideries with Bianco Perry, make your own landmark badges with Mack Sproates. Then enjoy some live music.
The Soundroom
Come along to the thriving community music charity, recording studio, and rehearsal space based in the old Redheugh library. Expect live music, recording, drumming, and an exhibition celebrating the history of this unique music project, nearly 40 years in the making.
Dunston Staiths
The historic Dunston Staiths will be open, weather permitting, until sunset (9pm). This is a rare opportunity to soak up the unique view along the Tyne from an historic structure. Wear sensible shoes and walk up to the top deck where there’ll be short heritage talks running at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm.
Bensham Grove Community Centre
Enjoy history tours of this grade ll listed building, have fun in the garden, and take part in craft activities for all ages. You’ll also be able to watch pottery being created through smoke firing and glass being made. Small charge for resources.
Grainger Market
Step inside and experience generations of preserved history within the magnificent Grade I listed building. Digital artists Multiminded with illustrator Deborah Snell use projection mapping to animate the Grainger Market, imagining what happens when everyone has gone home. There’ll also be plenty of special classes and activities, music, dancing, free tasters, art and discounts on offer all under cover in Newcastle’s oldest surviving retail destination.
Tyneside Irish Centre
Explore the top floor of the building in Gallowgate with a new perspective from the Library and Heritage centre. Traditional Irish music session in the Secret Shebeen with a drop of poitín for those old enough and brave enough.
Blackfriars
In Micro Poems, Micro Brews, dearest Haley brings the history of Blackfriars to life with on-the-spot micro poetry performances. The poems will also incorporate your thoughts and responses as you explore the 13th century building, afterwards you’ll receive a handwritten copy of the poem as a memento. The Ballad of Blackfriars see performers, writers and composers, Tim Dalling, Jeremy Bradfield and Faye MacCalman present a video-projection, ballad-song and immersive soundscape charting the history of Blackfriars. Expect the weird and wonderful, with looped saxophonic soundscapes, using traditional biblical mystery stories as three people tell the history of a city.
Dance City
Dance City is a vibrant and friendly place where people come together to take part, enjoy, experience and talk about dance. Watch Pearl Primus, OMOWAKE (chid returned home) at this year's Late Shows. In the 1940s, African American dancer Pearl Primus transformed the landscape of American and African dance with powerful protest dances. In celebration of this remarkable choreographer, pioneer and activist; artist Theresa Poulton presents a large-scale, text-based, polychromatic painting influenced by African style geometric prints. There’ll also be opportunities to dance, watch live performances and observe and talk with artists as they rehearse in the studios.
D6: Culture in Transit
Step into D6’s studios to experience new art created by artists in residence. D6 collaborates with local and international partners to bring extraordinary artists to the centre of Newcastle, creating work that draws social and environmental threads between the North East and the rest of the world. Drop by to discover new artworks, meet the team and enjoy some food and drink.
Newcastle Arts Centre
Newcastle Arts Centre will host exhibitions and performances and its resident artists will open their studios. In the gallery enjoy an exhibition and performance by an ace puppeteer Marc Parrett's The Ballad of The Underwater Daughter. Set on a fairy-tale mechanical island inhabited entirely by dads, the tale is told with puppets and machines built by The OBJECT Project.
A celebratory Jam to mark a decade of the popular Jazz sessions. Enjoy live music and pour out into the bustling courtyard to find street food and outdoor seating.
First opened in 1776, The Assembly Rooms is the an historic event, conference, banqueting and wedding setting in the North East of England. A rare opportunity to step inside this historic venue for an evening dedicated to showcasing local artists and dancers.
See the exhibits of The Common Room change before your eyes! Multimedia artist Emma Tominey invites you to experience The Common Room like never before. In her interactive augmented reality art trail, Emma overlays digital artworks on existing portraits, animates the subjects or replaces them entirely with lesser known historical figures.
Join in lots of activities on the theme of 'light' at Discovery Museum including a game of Lazer Tag amongst the exhibits in the popular Science Maze. A dedicated quiet space will be available for visitors who need a place to relax with ear defenders also available.
Journey from the Mediaeval to Modern with a visit to St Mary's Cathedral. Marvel at the needle spire, finely-carved altars, Victorian and contemporary stained glass and amazing neo-Gothic tiled floor. Enjoy hearing the new organ being played, get with tile painting, listen to the different styles of singing from plainchant to polyphony to modern settings (6.30pm and 8.00pm) or, for breathtaking view of the cathedral, climb the stairs to the organ loft (7.15pm, 8.45pm and 9.15pm).
Mosaic Tap is a brand new vibrant railway arch bar in the centre of Newcastle. Idle hands, local zine makers and artists will be hosting a drop-in zine workshop. The session will be super laid back and Idle hands will be happy to help with inspiration and collaboration during the session. All resources will be provided.
Enjoy a unique tour of The Pattern Shop with the people involved in the two-year project to carefully restore this historic building into stunning, sustainable office space. The Pattern Shop is where industrial pioneer Robert Stephenson built steam locomotives for export around the world, heralding the birth of the railway and a key moment in the industrial revolution.
Explore the interior of Newcastle Cathedral, taking in the stunning historic surroundings as night falls and the building is filled with atmospheric lighting. Find a quiet spot to sit in one of our chapels to reflect or light a candle and enjoy delicious food and drink at Café 16 in the Cathedral Refectory.
Experience a taste of yesteryear, with free gaming, on original retro consoles and arcade machines. This fantastic listed building on Dean Street also showcases the best local breweries with 26 craft beers from all over the north-east. Over 18s only.
The famous medieval tavern at Newcastle Castle returns! For one night only, the ground floor of the Castle Keep will become a place for revelry, fine ale, music and storytelling. The event will take place in the Castle Keep (not the Black Gate).
Visit the magnificent Jacobean public rooms open from 6.30pm-10.30pm (no booking required). In addition, tours of the rarely viewed private rooms will take place at 6.15-7pm, 7.15-8pm, 8.15-9pm and 9.15-10pm. Tickets for tours available to book from 10am, 5 April. Limited numbers available.
Newcastle Contemporary Art invite you to the closing night of the exhibition, No Last Dance, a group exhibition and a one-day symposium exploring how time is intrinsic to the act of making and viewing painting. A DJ will also be spinning the tunes and there will be a pay bar.
Explore the multifaceted world of Billy Connolly at Castle Fine Art Newcastle gallery. Delight in his comedic genius and artistic fervour as guests are invited to discover the intricate connection between the legendary entertainer and his art. Join this exclusive glimpse into Connolly's creative process and personal artistic journey.
Join in with an evening of creative activities exploring industry, mapping and celestial navigation, with an opportunity to visit the new exhibition, Turner: Art, Industry and Nostalgia.
Dance the night away with music from local DJs 'Hidden Agenda', the popular silent disco returns, there's board games and creative activities from Equal Arts, short guided city centre walks from African Lives in Northern England and for all the hardcore Newcastle United fans, visit the photography exhibition Toon Fans United by Hazel Plater.
African Lives in Northern England
Take a short walk to explore African lives in Newcastle e.g. Ida B. Wells, Muhammad Ali, Ira Alridge, Ellen Craft, Henry Box Brownon one walk and Martin Luther King Jr on the other., led by an experienced guide. Every half hour between 6-8.30pm.
Join us for top hits at Gallagher & Turner! DJ Lady Annabella will be spinning beats (7-9pm) alongside exhibition Recording Time. Featuring Catherine Bertola, Jane Bown, Anna Chapman, Rachael Clewlow, Alan Hathaway, Nick Kennedy, and ‘Beyond the Goldmine Standard’, iconic art-adorned Vinyl Records, raising money for Maggie’s Cancer Treatment Centre.
Step inside the Hancock Gallery and explore the secrets of art after dark - discover the artists work in a different light on your journey by night. Follow the clues to crack the code and be in with a chance to win treasure that every artist dreams of!
Haylofts, formerly the stables for Newcastle Breweries is the newest addition to Hoults Yard quirky workspace. Pop in for a look around at the former stables, grab a free coffee and pop your feet up for a moment. Feeling crafty? Use some of the art supplies to create your own Newcastle Brown Ale bottle design, or a new Geordie horse themed poster to adorn the meeting room wall.
The Farrell Centre is a place to explore and debate how you can shape your city. Discover their new exhibition ‘Building, an Exhibition Under Construction’ or take part in a drop-in workshop.
Great North Museum: Hancock
For one night only, be a kid again as you explore a host of giant inflatable activities – think bouncy castles, slides, ball-pools and more. Separate activities for children and adults. Time limits may apply. There will be a dedicated quiet space available for any visitors who need a place to relax.
See the remarkable Merz Barn Wall by Kurt Schwitters which was originally in a barn in Elterwater, Cumbria then create a collage inspired by this famous artwork. You will also be able to create a drawing of the night skies and take part in art activities created by L-INK the Hatton and Laing’s young people's group.
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