Locally Made and Played. Local Musicians, Live

Developing and supporting grassroots music talent in Newcastle is in our DNA and Locally Made & Played is a perfect example of this.

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In December, City of Newcastle launched the Boost Arts and Culture: Live Music Grant Program. This targeted program was developed to incentivise live music across the city in February, aligning with the inaugural New Annual Festival, giving Newcastle’s emerging artists the opportunity to play in our local venues while the city comes alive.

Sixteen venues across the City will host live music over the 10-day New Annual festival. The venues include; Wickham Park Hotel, Cambridge Hotel, The Kent Hotel, Beach Burrito Co., The Mark Hotel, The Duke Of Wellington, The Ship Inn Newcastle, The Rogue Scholar, Jams Karaoke Bar, Meet Restaurant, The Stag & Hunter Hotel, The Lucky Hotel, Racecourse Hotel Wallsend, Oriental Hotel Cooks Hill, The Exchange Hotel and The Lass O'Gowrie Hotel.

Some of the local talent that will be showcased across the venues include; Sneaky Freakers, Raw Candy, Elisa Kate, Matt McLaren, Threads blues band, Giant blues band, Pistol Pete, Greg Bryce, Mike Zee, Mid City, Time On Earth, Dani El Rassi, Dean Kyrwood, Howard Shearman, Prestige Inc, Kate Cornucopia, Adam Miller Trio, Brendan Fell Trio, Cliff & Co, Mick Jones and Tre Soul.

New Annual is City of Newcastle’s inaugural arts festival. Spanning ten days and activating venues across the city, the festival will feature local and visiting artists sharing music, dance, contemporary performance and visual art in a celebration of creativity while showcasing our community’s journey of self-expression, resilience and recovery, and highlighting Newcastle’s identity as a creative hub with a vibrant cultural heritage.

New Annual provides locals and visitors with an opportunity to discover new work, new perspectives, and new performance spaces across the city. Launching Locally Made & Played across local venues ensures that patrons can engage with the festival throughout more of the city. It will also provide visitors with a range of options to explore and experience.

The Festival is headlined by a number of major commissions from local artists and companies including feature performances from Curious Legends and Catapult Choreographic Hub. Pop-up venues and installations in Civic Park and Wheeler Place will showcase the best of Newcastle’s creative arts, while visiting artists like audio-visual choreographer e4444e and the Omega Ensemble will deliver a range of compelling works.

Newcastle’s iconic Hazy Cosmic Jive recording studio will provide a musical showcase of homegrown talent, while various street art activations will bring key outdoor locations to life. An open artist studio trail featuring some of Newcastle’s most dynamic independent art spaces will also offer a hands-on insight into the creative processes of a visual artist.

New Annual has an eclectic and ambitious program designed to inspire, delight and encourage contemplation as it explores both light-hearted and more serious themes all across Newcastle. Highlights include Klapping which takes urban performances to a purpose-built event location in National Park, and Curious Legends holding an installation at the Summerhill Waste Facility involving illuminated puppets providing entertainment for the whole family.

New Annual is the catalyst for Newcastle’s cultural events sector to take centre stage alongside leading national events and It will shine a spotlight on Newcastle’s reputation as a creative city where ambitious and accessible contemporary art and culture grow and thrive within a prosperous, diverse and resilient community.

New Annual comes alive 12–21 February. To find out more about Locally Made & Played along with the full New Annual event program, visit www.newannual.com (*information correct at the time of publication).

Top: Omega Ensemble – Night Serenades