Local Events
Ouseburn Festival
The Ouseburn Festival is a free community event, organised by volunteers, which takes place annually, usually around the end of July. It aims to bring together the local community and general public and encourage participation. Typically the festival features music and arts performance, sports activities, spoken word events, arts and crafts workshops, stalls, children’s activities and a tea dance for older participants.
Last year’s Festival saw a very successful collaboration between the East End and Ouseburn Community Association (the umbrella organisation responsible for the Ouseburn Festival) and the North East music magazine, NARC. The result was ‘NARC. Fest’ - a music event over the Festival weekend which brought together six local promoters and made use of the various venues in the Valley. The line-up included everything from improvised electronica to rock, indie and pop. NARC. Fest returned again as part of the 2008 Ouseburn Festival.
Ouseburn Festival, Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July 2009.
w: www.ouseburnfestival.org
Open Studios Weekend
There are a large number of artists and craftspeople based in the Ouseburn Valley and many of them open their studio doors to the public for the last weekend in November every year as part of the Open Studios Weekend.
Participating venues in previous years have included Mushroom Works and Brown Paper Studios (now RASKL) on St Lawrence Rd; 36 Lime St, Northern Print and The Art Works Galleries on Stepney Bank; the Biscuit Factory Studios on Stoddart Street and Brick Works on Hannington Place.
Open Studios weekend provides a great opportunity for people to meet artists and have a look around studios that are usually not open to the general public without appointment. There is always a wide variety of work on offer to buy – including paintings, ceramics, furniture, books, jewellery, sculpture, and much more.
Open Studios Weekend, November
w: www.ouseburnopenstudios.org
Newcastle Gateshead Events
Newcastle upon Tyne & Gateshead have a yearly programme of arts and cultural festivals and events including regular film and audio-visual arts festivals, the Orange music festival, Gateshead Jazz festival and many more.
Newcastle Gateshead Events
w: www.visitnewcastlegateshead.com