Taking place from September 25 to October 4, Newcastle's New Annual Festival creates space for artists whose work bridges 60,000 years of Country, community and cultural memory with today.
Now unveiling the full program for its sixth event, the festival is inviting audiences to experience Newcastle through 10 days of art, music, performance and ideas that couldn't happen anywhere else.
From sunrise gatherings on Dixon Park Beach and sunset live music performances at Newcastle Ocean Baths to intimate theatre inside a neighbourhood pub, raucous indie-rock gig-theatre shows fuelled by Silverchair obsession, and monumental artworks shaped by the tides, New Annual turns the city itself into the stage.
Building on the success of New Annual 2025, which attracted more than 50,000 attendees and contributed nearly $3.5million in local economic impact*, this year's festival celebrates Newcastle's creative confidence through ambitious new commissions and nationally and internationally acclaimed artists working alongside local creatives.
Festival director Tory Loudon said New Annual continues to champion the people, places and creative spirit that make Newcastle unique.
"New Annual could only belong to Newcastle. Every major work is shaped here - by its coastline, communities, and unmistakable character - creating experiences that couldn't happen anywhere else," he said.
"This year's program reflects a city that's creative, confident and constantly evolving. It brings together remarkable local artists with leading voices from across Australia, all responding to this place with generosity, curiosity and imagination.
"Whether you're visiting for the first time or have lived here your whole life, I hope New Annual has you seeing Newy in a completely new light."
First Nations talent is in the spotlight with several popular Indigenous artists and creatives set to make an appearance.
Kobie Dee brings his sharp, personal storytelling to the water's edge for SOAK: Live at the Baths.
The Gomeroi rapper performs alongside Pasifika collective 92WRLD in a free sunset session built around music, community and connection at Newcastle's iconic Ocean Baths.
At Newcastle Art Gallery, Sāmoan-Australian artist Angela Tiatia opens MUSE, her first major survey spanning two decades of video, photography and installation.
It launches alongside New Annual's free First Night Art Party, headlined by PNG-born future-soul powerhouse Ngaiire, with Djanaba and Aleksiah.
On Carrington Foreshore, respected Worimi Elder and artist Auntie Debbie Dates leads Lenny's Country: an evening of knowledge sharing, yarns and local history, with the land, community and wildlife illuminated through Curious Legends' spectacular puppetry.
Worimi Elder and artist Auntie Debbie Dates leads Lenny's Country: an evening of knowledge sharing, yarns and local history, with the land, community and wildlife illuminated through Curious Legends' spectacular puppetry. (Image: supplied)
Under the full moon on Monday September 28, Tongan-Australian performance artist Latai Taumoepeau looks to the Pacific with Wansolmoana Lunar Assembly.
Float at Newcastle Ocean Baths in this participatory ceremony that draws on Pasifika performance to honour the ocean through ritual, reflection and renewal.
And Nardi Simpson joins Ensemble Offspring for Stories of Water & Earth, expanding her Yuwaalaraay freshwater stories through song, language and ceremony in a musical journey grounded in Country.
Together, these First Nations New Annual artists offer very different ways to experience Muloobinba/Newcastle through stories that extend far beyond the festival stage.
New Annual runs from the 25th September - 4th October in Newcastle / Muloobinba.
For more fashion, arts, culture and lifestyle news subscribe for free to the Style Up newsletter.
