![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/getmedia\/e64009b0-4912-4e4b-9dc2-d6b7bb8d7e8d\/Tom-Avgenicos-WEB.jpg\")
Tom Avgenicos playing during New Annual 2025<\/em>Last year\u2019s New Annual was the largest in the event\u2019s history featuring a total of 87 shows which attracted approximately 50,000 attendees, almost double the amount from 2024, with an economic impact of almost $3.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFestival Director Tory Loudon said City of Newcastle-commissioned surveys revealed 96% of respondents would be likely to attend New Annual again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLast year\u2019s New Annual demonstrated the strength of Newcastle\u2019s creative community and the city\u2019s growing confidence as a cultural destination,\u201d Ms Loudon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMore than 70% of the program featured local artists in 2025 and the \u2018Made New\u2019 program will ensure we continue to celebrate the exceptional creative talent within our region through new works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had amazing success last year introducing new venues into the program. From the transformation of Newcastle Museum into a theatre space, to the overwhelming response to performances at Newcastle Ocean Baths and University House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis year we\u2019re looking for original works that tell a story about Newcastle in a unique way or use a Newcastle space in a new way. We love out of the box ideas and there\u2019s a maximum of $40,000 available per project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Councillor Jenny Barrie, Chair of City of Newcastle\u2019s Community and Culture Strategic Advisory Committee said New Annual is a festival for the entire community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe feedback we received showed that New Annual made Novocastrians feel connected to their city, while the productions truly reflected local stories and gave audiences a sense of pride,\u201d Cr Barrie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNew Annual is evolving into an iconic festival that is truly Novocastrian, providing local audiences with free and low cost opportunities to engage with a range of arts while attracting cultural tourism to the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe festival showcases what can be achieved when collaboration and ambition align, celebrating creativity that is shaped by place and powered by people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2025 festival saw Newcastle\u2019s coastline and civic spaces reimagined as vibrant stages for art, performance and community connection, featuring diverse events, activities and performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alongside performances at Newcastle Ocean Baths, other highlights included giant shipping containers that transformed Camp Shortland into a public art trail, the multi-sensory DARKFIELD in Wheeler Place, a whimsical six-hole mini putt-putt course at The Station, the First Night Art Party on Laman Street and a singing workshop with men\u2019s choir sensations Spooky Men\u2019s Chorale.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Locals working across interdisciplinary art forms, visual arts, dance, theatre, music, and multimedia have until 12 February 2026 to submit an expression of interest for New Annual 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Successful applicants will be included in the New Annual festival program, ensuring City of Newcastle will provide support with marketing, publicity and production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To keep up to date with the latest festival news or find out more about the “Made New” process, visit www.newannual.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n To view a copy of the New Annual 2025 post festival report, click here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n To see highlights of the 2025 festival, click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Local artists are being offered the chance to shine at New Annual in 2026 as City of Newcastle\u2019s flagship arts festival continues to elevate Newcastle’s profile as a thriving creative city. Applications are now open for the \u2018Made New\u2019 program, which provides up to $40,000 in funding for Newcastle-based or affiliated artists to present during … Continue reading “New Annual searches for fresh homegrown programming following record 2025 festival”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36871,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36870\/revisions\/36871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}