Back to Culture – Tyneside prepares for weekend of late-night culture

The Late Shows – Tyneside’s annual free after-hours culture crawl – returns for its 14th edition this weekend, after two years of cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The event sees over 40 arts, culture and heritage venues opening their doors later than usual and programming short taster activities, with visitors encouraged to sample as much of the diverse line-up as possible. 

The Late Shows also offers visitors the chance to see historic buildings in a new light as well as other one-off spectacles. 

The Late Shows is co-ordinated by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and for 2022 it is sponsored by The Biscuit Factory, the UK’s biggest independent art, craft and design gallery in Newcastle’s cultural quarter. 

From the studio to the stage, join The Biscuit Factory for an evening of cultural happenings. See part of the gallery transformed into an art studio, where you are invited to join artist Megan Randall to mould and shape ceramic forms, which in their hundreds will come together as one installation to mark The Biscuit Factory’s 20th anniversary year. Get involved in an experiment in making urban venues friendlier on your brain - a project designed by spatial thinker Helena Seget. Dance like no-one is watching at the Silent Book disco with a thematically curated playlist from Forum Books, and tour the gallery to uncover flash-mob Shakespeare with actors bursting into short performances within the crowd, courtesy of People’s Theatre. 

Release your inner child at Discovery Museum with an evening of retro fun with 80s inspired music, games and challenges. 

Explore different areas of Life Science Centre at twilight. Wonder at Gaia – the mesmerising, glowing, seven-metre replica of Planet Earth. Take an easel and create your own masterpiece, inspired by an astronaut’s view from Space. See the brand-new live planetarium show, and get creative with silk banner painting, bug hotels and other hands-on activities in the Making Studios. 

Bill Griffiths, Chair of the Late Shows Steering Group and Head of Programmes & Collections at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said:  

“The Late Shows is the chance to see the best of Tyneside’s daytime cultural scene, but at night!. We're really happy to have so many venues taking part after a tough couple of years for the cultural sector. We’ve got some of the loyal and popular venues that have been a part of the event since it started as well as some new venues who are joining us for the first time. We hope people take the opportunity to join us for what we can promise will be a fantastic night out!”  

The event will take place on Friday 13 May in the Ouseburn only and on Saturday 14 May it will be in venues across central Newcastle, the quayside and Gateshead.  

Venues in the Ouseburn Valley and Newcastle are open from 7-11pm; Gateshead venues open from 6-10pm. 

Free accessible buses are available to help visitors get around The Late Shows. See www.thelateshows.org.uk for further details and to download a full programme.