Newcastle's Cultural Festival Set to Return
Newcastle's vibrant arts scene is gearing up for another spectacular celebration as New Annual prepares to light up the city once again in 2024. This relatively young but already beloved event, launched in 2021, has quickly become a cornerstone of Newcastle's cultural calendar.
New Annual transforms Newcastle into a canvas for creativity, offering a diverse program of visual arts, live performances, music, and interactive experiences. The festival, which will be held from 27 September until 5 October, aims to showcase both local talent and national artists, reinforcing Newcastle's position as an emerging cultural hub.
Festival-goers can expect a mix of free and ticketed events spread across various venues in the city, promising to captivate locals and visitors once again while offering a fresh perspective on Newcastle's evolving identity. Here are a few of our highlights…
Truth to Power Café
Part theatrical performance, part activism - each event is told through memoir, monologue, music, film, image, poetry, and authentic and passionate stories from community participants of all ages, experiences, and backgrounds, speaking up in response to the question: “Who as power over you and what do you want to say to them?”
Keen to be part of the live show? Submit your 100-word response to the question, ‘Who has power over you, and what do you want to say to them?’ at www.newannual.com/explore/events/truth-to-power.
Morphology
Join local furniture designers and makers Jonathan Everett (Everett Creative) and Hannah Cheetham (Built In-Kind) for a one-of-a-kind workshop in the historic Soap Factory arts space.
Prepare to immerse yourself in an explosion of creativity! Work in a team toward a singular artistic vision to create a collaborative timber sculpture – a piece you will not only help to create but also see exhibited during the festival.
Participants are invited to bring an old piece of furniture, something old, something broken, something precious but obsolete. Facilitators will guide participants in dismembering and reassembling these old furnishings, taking them and re-composing them into a single collective sculptural artwork.
The artwork will be organically developed with input from all participants, guided by the expert team of makers. Participants will be encouraged to etch poems, thoughts, stories and memories into the work as design features. Beyond the immediate drama of the chaos of the piece, the work will have a strong design element and simplicity in its form, exploring the idea of expressing ’memory’.
Rising from the Ashes
Across two concerts, Newcastle Youth Orchestra will deliver a unique program integrating live musical performances, visual art, and dance, showcasing never-before performed works by Newcastle composer Jacob Cummins.
The performance will be enriched via accompanying dancers from the Australian National College of Dance, and a local
photographer will present his images on screen, creating a truly immersive experience for the viewer. The focal point of the concert is Cummins’ new composition, Rising from the Ashes: An Orchestral Suite, inspired by the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. This piece will be performed by NYO, along with some exciting guest musicians.
New Annual runs from 27 September to 6 October. For the full program, check out www.newannual.com.au.
