From August 7-9 Novum Summer Festival will be making a return to Newcastle. This three-day event will see the city’s streets and squares transformed into a playground of performances creativity and community celebration. Expect a packed, family-friendly programme of free events, including outdoor performances, playful installations, artist workshops, music and plenty of pop-up “you just had to be there” moments. Dominoes Newcastle will see the city become a moving art installation with giant breeze blocks popping up across the city in a larger-than-life domino run.
This week Baltic launched a landmark exhibition, marking the first time four major series by celebrated documentary photographer Tish Murtha will be shown together in the North East, alongside a newly commissioned body of work by Newcastle–based artist Kuba Ryniewicz. Working closely with Tish’s daughter Ella Murtha, the exhibition honours her vision and the continued stewardship of her archive. Baltic will present, for the first time together, works from the series Elswick Kids, Elswick Revisited, Save Scotswood Works and Youth Unemployment alongside Ryniewicz’s contemporary take on the exhibition. Tish Murtha & Kuba Ryniewicz Close to Home will be at Baltic until April 4th 2027.
Visitors to Newcastle and North Tyneside will also be able to take part in a new art trail Peter Rabbit™ Tales on the Tyne. From Wednesday 15th July – Monday 14th September 2026, Newcastle and North Tyneside will be transformed by the arrival of super-sized sculptures inspired by the much-loved character created by Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit. Located alongside some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, each Peter Rabbit sculpture will be uniquely designed by artists from the region and beyond, providing a fun, family-friendly art trail for locals and visitors to follow.
North East Museums with their portfolio of art galleries, diverse collections and heritage attraction are a must-visit for anyone coming to the region. Some of the highlights for this summer include:
Laing Art Gallery – Last chance to see Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025, the National Portrait Gallery’s celebrated painting competition which is on display until September 2nd.
Great North Museum: Hancock – Treasure Hidden, lost, found – Discover the North East’s buried history with a collection of objects buried across centuries and uncover the stories they reveal about life in the North East. On until September 20
Discovery Museum – Things that Go – This inaugural exhibition, in a new space at Disovery Museum, is especially for families with children aged 7 and under. Things That Go will be transport-themed, which is fitting given Tyneside’s rich engineering, maritime and rail history.
From boats, buses and bicycles to tractors, trains and planes, get ready to explore the exciting world of transport through hands-on play and truckloads of toys. From August 6th 2026 – February 28 2027
Woodhorn Museum – Mik Critchlow: Coal Town Collection: A moving portrait of Ashington and its people, captured over more than four decades by one of the North East’s most important documentary photographers. Ongoing exhibition
At the Bowes Museum there is still a chance to see a multi-gallery exhibition celebrating the ne of fashion’s most provocative and imaginative British designers, Vivienne Westwood. Featuring many pieces from rarely seen private collections, Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Storyteller – Visionary offers an unprecedented glimpse into Westwood’s artistry, one that defied convention and challenged the fashion world. The exhibition runs until September 6.
From October 1, the museum will host Bowie at The Bowes Museum as part of the national David Bowie: On Tour from the Victoria & Albert Museum. V&A have announced a national tour of highlights from David Bowie’s Tour giving a rare glimpse into David Bowie’s creative process and how he shaped his iconic image, music, video, TV and film work. Highlights include legendary costumes, musical instruments, career-spanning photography, plus never-before-seen items including Polaroids for make-up and costume fittings, a Ziggy Stardust-era acoustic guitar, unrealised projects, handwritten lyrics, performance notes and costumes from Bowie’s final albums.
