newy.com.au – Newcastle’s Canoe Pool will host a floating artwork and early-morning dance performances as New Annual opens on 25 September, with seven new commissions premiering across the festival’s 10-day program.
The City of Newcastle festival runs until 4 October, with free and low-cost performances among its events. Festival director Tory Loudon said the 2026 program would feature 402 artists across 40 events.
Newcastle artist Izabela Pluta’s Cavitation: Breathing Ocean uses sea floats collected from Far North Queensland coastlines to create an installation that shifts with the tides. Accompanied by an exhibition at The Lock-Up, the work explores how water carries people, objects and histories between places, reflecting the Polish-born artist’s experience of migration and her connection to water as a swimmer and diver.
Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub will share the Canoe Pool setting with At Sea, a free, 30-minute performance at the water’s edge. Dancers will perform to an original score by Zackari Watt at 8am on selected mornings from 26 September, with a public dance workshop to follow.
Another opening-weekend premiere, Petite Suite, has already sold out. Sydney arts organisation Brand X will transform seven rooms at Cooks Hill’s Oriental Hotel into intimate performance spaces, with Drew Fairley playing the hotel manager as audiences encounter local and national artists.
The opening celebrations will also bring a traffic closure to Laman Street on Friday, 25 September, for the free First Night Art Party. Aleksiah, Djanaba and Ngaiire will perform, while Newcastle-based Samoan-Australian artist Angela Tiatia opens her exhibition Muse inside Newcastle Art Gallery.
Free SOAK sunset music sessions return to Newcastle Ocean Baths on 26 September, with electronic music duo Hermitude paired with Newcastle-based DJ Claire O’Brien. The following evening will celebrate Newcastle’s jazz scene.
Further south, audiences at Dixon Park Beach can listen through headsets as the sun rises for Sea Stories. Melbourne theatre maker Roslyn Oades created the audio work from interviews with Novocastrians about the ocean’s role in helping them face life’s challenges. Photographs by Newcastle photographer Penelope Green, celebrating the city’s ocean swimming community, will be displayed along the promenade fence.
The later commissions include a Curious Legends celebration of local Indigenous culture at Carrington Foreshore, a Stories of Our Town film about unusual Newcastle tales and an interactive production marking 50 years of Tantrum Youth Arts.
The full festival program is available at newannual.com.
Cavitation: Breathing Ocean | 25 September–4 October | Canoe Pool | Izabela Pluta’s floating installation, with an accompanying exhibition at The Lock-Up.
Petite Suite | 25–27 September | Oriental Hotel | Brand X’s seven-room theatrical experience. Sold out.
At Sea | 26–29 September and 1–4 October, 8am | Canoe Pool | Free Catapult dance performance, followed by a public workshop.
Triceratop | 30 September–4 October | University House | A one-person gay dinosaur love story with climate change themes.
Lenny’s Country | 30 September | Nan’s Place, Carrington Foreshore | A celebration of local Indigenous culture led by Curious Legends.
Bizarre Newcastle | 1 October | King Street | A Stories of Our Town film uncovering 10 local tales, followed by live cabaret and music.
Press Play | 1–3 October | The Playhouse | Interactive theatre for young audiences celebrating Tantrum Youth Arts’ 50th anniversary.
