What’s on in the North East this July
From the return of Newcastle’s Pride Festival to live music along the seafront, ground-breaking theatre productions, new stand-up talent, and a city-wide celebration of culture… here’s how to spend the next month
MUSIC
Mouth of the Tyne Festival
6th – 9th July
Tynemouth Priory, Newcastle upon Tyne
You don’t have to walk 500 miles to catch The Proclaimers this summer, alongside the Ivor Novello winning Siouxsie, Housemartins frontman Paul Heaton and everyone’s favourite soul-pop queen, Gabrielle – just head to Tynemouth Priory at sunset.
Tickets: From £27.50
This is South Tyneside Festival
9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th July
Bents Park, South Shields
The Vamps, Jason Donovan, Bjorn Again and Boyzlife (the crooner combo of Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden), will be headlining the four Sunday Concerts that South Shields are now famous for this summer.
Tickets: Free
Reverend and the Makers: Acoustic
13th July
The Cluny, Newcastle upon Tyne
Famous for their trademark combo of classic indie-rock, dance and electro, catch the ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’ hitmakers as you’ve never seen them before at The Cluny this month: live and unplugged.
Tickets: From £11.00
Kubix Festival
15th and 22nd July
Herrington Country Park, Houghton le Spring
At Kubix Festival’s Pop & Dance Day on 15th July, expect to find pop heavyweights Sugababes, Blue, A1, Five and 911, while the Alternative & Rock Day on 22nd July will host Squeeze, The Enemy and Marc Almond.
Tickets: From £37.29
Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
21st July
Darlington Hippodrome
The world-famous entertainer (and NYE stalwart) will be bringing his much loved boogie-woogie piano style live to the Darlington Hippodrome stage, backed by his dynamic Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, for a performance full of back to back feel-good hits.
Tickets: From £44.00
THEATRE
Confetti
7th July
Durham Gala Theatre
This one-man rom-com was a smash hit at Edinburgh Fringe – celebrating the ‘gay best friend’ trope front and centre as Will Jackson stars as Felix: uptight, unlucky in love and mate of honour at his best friend’s wedding…
Tickets: From £12.00
Kinky Boots
25th – 29th July
Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne
This fierce, fearless and fabulous award-winning musical following the workers in a struggling shoe factory who start producing ‘kinky boots’ for drag queens – all set to a score created by pop royalty Cyndi Lauper – is full of heart and sole.
Tickets: From £15.00
COMEDY
Sketch Slap
11th July
Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne
Head down to Alphabetti Theatre if you fancy a night full of slapstick sketches and hilarious skits, featuring some of the most exciting up-and-coming comedic talent in the North East.
Tickets: Pay what you feel
Paul Smith
22nd July
Sunderland Empire
Liverpool’s former New Comedian of the Year brings his biggest and, arguably, funniest live show yet to Sunderland later this month, in which the Scouse funny man mixes his trademark audience interaction with more of his hilarious true stories.
Tickets: From £29.65
ARTS AND EXHIBITIONS
Anne Redpath and her Circle
Until 5th November
The Maltings, Berwick upon Tweed
One of Scotland’s finest mid-20th century artists, Anne Redpath was also a penniless, single mother of three. Still, she never wavered from pursuing a career as an artist and she eventually became a standard bearer for the group now known as the ‘Edinburgh School’. Discover the largely forgotten group in this new exhibition.
Tickets: Free
People Powered: Stories from the River Tees
22nd July – 7th January, 2024
MIMA, Middlesbrough
In partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, this exhibition features an action-packed programme of events focusing on histories and folk tales that explore the untold stories from the River Tees – as well as poetry, portraits and photographs from by HLN friend, Joanne Coates.
Tickets: Free
EVENTS
Durham BRASS Festival 2023
9th – 16th July
Venues across Durham
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Academy Award-winning short film, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers. It’s an occasion The Fairey Band are determined to celebrate during Durham Brass Festival, while you’ll find plenty other performances, family workshops and pop-ups across the city.
Tickets: From £15.00
Newcastle Fringe Festival
18th – 29th July
Venues across Newcastle city centre
The North East’s answer to the famous Edinburgh Fringe, this July expect to see a kaleidoscope of talented theatre, comedy, poetry and musical performances in venues across Newcastle’s city centre.
Tickets: From £3.00
Northern Pride 2023
22nd – 23rd July
Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne
The North East’s premier celebration of the LGBTQIA+ returns for 2023 with plenty of rainbow-themed festival workshops, funfair rides, bars and street food, family events and huge entertainment acts in the pipeline.
Tickets: From £6.00
For more events listings across the North East, check out our What’s On calendar
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