North East Culture highlights for 2026
As the wrappers come off 2026, we've picked out a 12-strong selection of cultural moments we're already filing under ‘do not miss’.
Monet: In the Presence of Nature, South Shields
A Monet masterpiece is swapping The National Gallery for South Shields Museum & Art Gallery from January 17 to March 25.
The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil is an oil painting by Claude Monet, a founder of the Impressionist art movement which revered nature and explored the effects of light on a landscape.
The 1872 painting has only left its London home once in 20 years but is now on a regional tour.
In South Shields it will hang with paintings belonging to North East Museums as the famous exhibition centrepiece.
Cinema release of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
As it turns out, instalments of Danny Boyle’s ‘28 (insert time frame here) Later’ horror series are like infected buses… you wait 18 years for the next one to come along and two pull up (literally) on your doorstep inside 12 months.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple opens in UK cinemas on January 14 and – just like its immediate predecessor, 28 Years Later – the film has been shot across the North East and spotlights young Newcastle actor Alfie Williams as Spike.
Written by Alex Garland and directed by Nia DaCosta, the film continues to expand the dystopian world first created nearly a quarter of a century ago - and offers North Easterners the world over the chance to play ‘spot the location’.
Ralph Fiennes leads the story as Dr Kelson, whose unsettling new relationship threatens to upend what remains of society.
The synopsis for The Bone Temple suggests the franchise is fully committing to the shift teased at the end of 28 Years Later, where the human survivors - not the infected - emerged as the true source of terror.
Turner Prize & New Contemporaries, MIMA
MIMA turns 20 next year but the Middlesbrough gallery will do well to top 2026 which sees it hosting two notable exhibitions.
The Turner Prize showcase will attract publicity because it’s famously controversial.
Four British artists will be chosen for the finalists’ autumn exhibition at MIMA and the winner of the £25,000 prize will be announced in December.
Before then comes the annual New Contemporaries exhibition showcasing 26 of the country’s emerging artists.
New Contemporaries was set up by artists for artists in 1949 and was originally called Young Contemporaries.
This year’s exhibition will run at MIMA from May 8 until August 16.
Dance spectacular to open Culture House
Robbie Graham knows how to put on a show and his dynamic Southpaw Company plans a big one to open Culture House Sunderland.
Scheduled for the spring, HOME will feature professional dancers and community participants.
Inspiration, says Robbie, comes from the ‘overview effect’ experienced by astronauts viewing Earth from space.
“From that perspective, we then zoom in on Sunderland as our HOME. It will bring to life Sunderland’s history of shipyards, glass, football and music before looking towards the future and the fantastic opportunities on the horizon.”
The new Keel Square facility is described as a ‘living room’ where all should feel welcome.
Find out more at culturehousesunderland.co.uk
Silence of the Lambs to make a noise in Newcastle
A new stage adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs will have its world premiere in 2026 before heading out on a major UK and Ireland tour - including stops at both Newcastle Theatre Royal and Sunderland Empire.
Acclaimed playwright and television writer Gina Gionfriddo is adapting Thomas Harris’s multimillion-selling psychological thriller for the stage, directed by Nikolai Foster.
The production arrives first at Newcastle Theatre Royal from August 18-22, 2026 (the second stop of the tour) and will return to the region almost a year later for a run at Sunderland Empire from June 21–26, 2027.
As everyone who has read the book and/or seen the Oscar-winning film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster will know, the story follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling as she seeks the help of imprisoned psychiatrist and murderer Hannibal Lecter to catch a new serial killer, Buffalo Bill.
As the FBI races against time, Clarice and Lecter embark on a tense psychological dance that tests her resolve and forces her into the darkest corners of the human mind.
Astell and Woolf at Live Theatre
Shelagh Stephenson’s new play will be a hot ticket when it opens at Newcastle’s Live Theatre.
Born in the North East, she left to pursue an acting career which morphed into writing hit plays.
In Astell and Woolf she imagines a meeting in the afterlife of two formidable women – author Virginia Woolf and Mary Astell, a coal merchant’s daughter who was born in Newcastle in 1666.
In Reflections On Marriage (published 1700) Astell asked: “If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?”
The play, directed by Karen Traynor, will run from May 14 until June 6.
The Unthanks at 20: An anniversary special withRoyal Northern Sinfonia at The Glasshouse
Understandably sold out, this symphonic celebration of 20 years of Northumberland folk treasures, The Unthanks boasts all the ingredients for a gorgeous and unforgettable evening.
Uniting with Royal Northern Sinfonia, the performance also marks 10 years since their BBC Folk Album of the Year win for Mount The Air.
Featuring carefully selected favourites from across 15 albums, the collaboration promises to deepen the orchestral sensibilities long present in The Unthanks’ work, with arrangements by pianist and composer Adrian McNally and conducted by Ellie Slorach.
The concert takes place on January 20 in Sage One. Returns only, but well worth trying!
The return of Sunday for Sammy
Six years since the much-loved fundraiser last graced the Utilita Arena stage, the ‘Geordie Command Performance’ as it is affectionately known, returns to mark its 25th anniversary.
Founded by Auf Wiedersehen, Pet actors, Tim Healy and Jimmy Nail following the sudden death of their close friend Ronnie “Sammy” Johnson in 1998, a ‘one-off’ memorial gig at Newcastle City Hall in 2000 grew into a biennial North East institution raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to support young people in the region’s performing arts.
Over the years, the concerts have featured Mark Knopfler, Brian Johnson, Jill and Chelsea Halfpenny, Kevin Whately, Brendan Healy, Denise Welch, John Miles, Charlie Hardwick, Chris and Rosie Ramsey, Kathryn Tickell, Joe McElderry, and many more – with guest appearances from Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Brenda Blethyn and Johnny Vegas.
Last month, Matty Healy - Tim’s son, Sunday for Sammy’s new patron and lead singer of global pop superstars, The 1975 - confirmed he would be performing at the February 15 concerts (matinee and evening performances) – and rumours are already flying about who he might bring with him, ensuring the show’s signature element of surprise will be alive and kicking when the curtain comes up.
Tickets are still available from the Arena website at utilitaarena.co.uk/events.
Festival of Energy, Blyth
We’ve seen Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon and Gaia (the Earth) elsewhere but the spectacular sculptures will be united for the first time in Blyth.
They’re a highlight of the Festival of Energy, the finale of the Blyth Celebrates programme aimed at putting creativity into regeneration.
Outdoor art specialists Walk the Plank are producing the free festival which runs from March 5 to 8.
See the Jerram artworks in the testing facilities of offshore renewable energy company ORE Catapult.
Also catch Whale Song, a humpback whale being manifested at the mouth of the River Blyth, and Tower of Light, a giant lighthouse on the quayside.
Tish Murtha exhibition at Baltic
A summer draw will be Baltic’s exhibition of photos by Tish Murtha who documented the demolition of swathes of Newcastle’s West End.
A naturally talented photographer, she started taking pictures after finding an old camera in a derelict building.
She took photos that have become famous, showing mischievous children and adults making the best of life.
Born in South Shields in 1956, Tish died in 2013 but her reputation has grown, aided by recent documentary film Tish.
The Level 3 exhibition will run from July 4 until April 4, 2027 and also showcase the talent of North East photographer Kuba Ryniewicz.
Voulez vous Moulin Rouge?
As part of its first-ever World Tour, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is set to arrive at Sunderland Empire, with performances running from June 5 to 27.
The multi-award-winning production - adapted from Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-winning film - brings its trademark spectacle, romance and high-energy musical mash-up to the North East, featuring a score spanning more than 160 years of music.
A 10-time Tony Award winner, including Best Musical, its inclusion places Sunderland firmly on the map for one of 2026’s major touring theatre events.
Vivienne Westwood, Bowes Museum
The late fashion designer comes to the fore at the Bowes Museum with an exhibition across several galleries.
Dame Vivienne (1941-2022) fell in love with the museum at Barnard Caste 20 years ago when opening a lace exhibition. Later she made it the only European venue for a display of shoes.
This new exhibition, Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Storyteller – Visionary, charts her journey from 1970s punk to her later reimagining of the fashions of past centuries.
Featuring many pieces from rarely seen private collections, it’s billed as the museum’s most ambitious Westwood exhibition to date.
It runs from March 28 to September 6.
Also in 2026, look out for upcoming news and updates regarding…
Work proper starting on Phase One of the Crown Works Studios development in Sunderland. After a major investor pulled out last summer, much work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure the project goes ahead, and we don’t think it will be long before an exciting update is given.
The opening of The Light at Aykley Heads in Durham – formerly known as the DLI Museum and Art Gallery – which is being trailed as a beacon for creativity, art and culture.
Developments in New Writing North’s ambitious plans to create a national centre for writing and publishing in Newcastle. Just next week (January 12) councillors will consider whether to award a £1m grant to the project, which could be housed in the Old Post Office on St Nicholas’ Street in the city centre.
A major new exhibition arriving at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle this Easter brings dinosaurs to life, promising close-up encounters with some of the most extraordinary creatures ever to walk the earth.