VIDEO: All you need to know about The Great Exhibition of the North 2018

NewcastleGateshead Quayside. Photo: Visit EnglandNewcastleGateshead Quayside. Photo: Visit England
NewcastleGateshead Quayside. Photo: Visit England
The Great Exhibition of the North will be the largest event in England in 2018 and organisers see it as a a game-changing moment for the North.

It will reveal to the world how the North of England’s great art and culture, design and innovation has shaped all our lives and is building the economy of tomorrow.

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The Great Exhibition of the North - a £10m campaign to run for 10 weeks from June 22 to September 2018 - will be based in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, under the joint header of NewcastleGateshead, the destination marketing agency who are delivering the project to promote culture, business and tourism.

The dramatic story of the North, told in imaginative and powerful ways, aims to instil local pride and inspire people to pursue exciting lives and careers in the North.

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It will use a combination of indoor and outdoor locations, including cultural settings, iconic visitor attractions, world leading universities and cutting edge businesses.

Three major exhibition hubs will be at Great North Museum: Hancock, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Sage Gateshead to feed three walking routes.

The routes will be brought to life by performers, visual artists, architects, musicians, scientists, engineers, inventors, writers, creatives, thinkers, designers and digital makers as a result of an open call for ideas which attracted more than 430 submissions from across the whole North in May. Audiences will also be able to interact with the Exhibition virtually, celebrating more of the North’s innovative new technologies.

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The new branding for the Great Exhibition of the North. Photo: NewcastleGateshead Initiative.The new branding for the Great Exhibition of the North. Photo: NewcastleGateshead Initiative.
The new branding for the Great Exhibition of the North. Photo: NewcastleGateshead Initiative.

There will be significant activity on the opening and closing weekends with a number of landmark elements. A family summer camp and Business Expo complete the line-up for the Great Exhibition of the North.

A free, family-friendly exhibition set across NewcastleGateshead’s spectacular cityscape and in its world-class venues, it will inspire and excite audiences with the ‘story of the North’ told in imaginative and engaging ways – from visual arts and musical performances to digital, design, film, sport, science and more.

A newly created programme of events, exhibitions, installations and walking routes, will showcase to the world how the North of England’s great art and culture, design and innovation has shaped the world we live in today and is building the economy of tomorrow.

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Three major exhibition hubs at Great North Museum: Hancock, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Sage Gateshead will feed three walking routes. The routes will be brought to life by performers, visual artists, architects, musicians, scientists, engineers, inventors, writers, creatives, thinkers, designers and digital makers as a result of an open call for ideas which attracted more than 430 submissions from across the whole North. Audiences will also be able to interact with the Exhibition virtually, celebrating more of the North’s innovative new technologies.

Great North Museum: HancockGreat North Museum: Hancock
Great North Museum: Hancock

There will be significant activity on the opening weekend when a number of landmark elements will be unveiled for the first time. An exciting closing programme will be linked with the Great North Run. A family summer camp and Business Expo complete the line-up for the Great Exhibition of the North.

In October 2016, NewcastleGateshead was selected to host the Great Exhibition of The North; NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) led the bid and is the lead delivery partner for the Exhibition, working closely with colleagues at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, BALTIC, Sage Gateshead, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and a board chaired by Sir Gary Verity.

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Other important elements of The Great Exhibition of the North 2018 include inspiring opening and closing events, an entertaining and informative summer camp at Exhibition Park for families (part of an extensive learning and engagement programme) and a Business Expo.

NewcastleGateshead Initiative is a destination management and marketing agency; a public-private partnership supported by Gateshead and Newcastle City Councils, working with around 170 private sector partner organisations. It’s mission is to inspire people to visit, and to live, learn work and invest in NewcastleGateshead and the wider region

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. Photo: BALTICBALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. Photo: BALTIC
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. Photo: BALTIC

United by seven bridges across a spectacular riverscape, Newcastle (a city on the north bank of the River Tyne) and Gateshead (a town on the south bank) form a single, diverse and extremely vibrant visitor destination.

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World-class culture, vibrant nightlife, award-winning dining, inspiring heritage, fantastic shopping and acclaimed architecture are combined here like nowhere else, by the famous Geordie spirit which is symbolised by Antony Gormley’s iconic Angel of the North as it welcomes travellers to the area.