10 exhibitions and events you must visit in North East England in 2026

1. Pre-Raphaelites: Art and Poetry at Laing Art Gallery – Newcastle upon Tyne
2. The Trafalgar Flag of Lord Collingwood at Discovery Museum – Newcastle upon Tyne
3. Arborialis Luminarium by Architects of Air at Woodhorn Museum – Ashington, Northumberland
4. Bayeux-on-Tyne: Drawing the Bayeux Tapestry at Great North Museum: Hancock – Newcastle upon Tyne
5. Greggs Ta-Pastry at Great North Museum: Hancock – Newcastle upon Tyne
6. The Potter's Canvas at Hatton Gallery – Newcastle upon Tyne
7. Mignard: The Power of Posing at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery
8. Autumn Gala at Stephenson Steam Railway – North Shields
9. Things That Go! at Discovery Museum – Newcastle upon Tyne
10. Mik Critchlow: Coal Town Collection at Woodhorn Museum – Ashington, Northumberland

• Why visit? See some of the most celebrated paintings of the Victorian era while discovering how poetry shaped the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
• Best for: Art lovers, literature enthusiasts, fans of Victorian culture.

This one's for people who appreciate beauty. 

The Laing Art Gallery team has created a major new exhibition about the Pre-Raphaelites. It's the first show (we know of) to explore the link between Pre-Raphaelite art and poetry in depth.

All the big names of the movement are represented: William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Arthur Hughes. 

But they'll sit alongside work by women artists like Elizabeth Siddall, Kate Bunce and Julia Margaret Cameron.

Expect a visually stunning show with art on loan from museums, galleries and collectors right across the UK. We'll be publishing an exhibition catalogue as well - the perfect coffee table book for lovers of art and literature.

Pre-Raphaelites: Art and Poetry | Laing Art Gallery | Newcastle upon Tyne | 17 October 2026 – 13 February 2027 | admission charges apply

• Why visit? For a very limited time, see a battle-scarred flag that flew at the Battle of Trafalgar and discover the North East's role in one of Britain's most famous naval victories.
• Best for: History enthusiasts, maritime heritage fans, local history lovers.

This rare, hand-sewn Union flag flew aboard HMS Royal Sovereign, the flagship of Newcastle-born Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. 

More than 200 years later, The Trafalgar Flag is back in the North East and going on public display for a fortnight.

The story isn't just about admirals and naval battles. Many of the ship's crew were recruited from local maritime communities, earning them the nickname "Tars of the Tyne". In fact, more than 500 Geordie sailors served in Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar, helping to shape a moment that changed the course of history.

The Trafalgar Flag of Lord Collingwood | Discovery Museum | Newcastle upon Tyne | 17 October – 1 November 2026 | free entry

• Why visit? Wander through a monumental, walk-in artwork filled with glowing colours.
• Best for: Families, curious explorers, art lovers, anyone seeking a moment of wonder.

Take off your shoes and leave the everyday behind.

Arborialis is an immersive Luminarium that invites you into a maze of winding paths, glowing tree-like forms and vibrant canopies of colour. There is no set route to follow, so you can explore at your own pace, discover hidden corners or simply find a quiet place to sit and soak up the atmosphere.

Inspired by the natural world, the artwork creates the feeling of wandering through an otherworldly forest. It's a fitting choice for Woodhorn Museum, connecting the ancient forests that became coal with the region's industrial heritage.

Arborialis Luminarium by Architects of Air | Woodhorn Museum | Ashington, Northumberland | Saturday 24 October - Thursday 29 October 2026 | admission charges apply

• Why visit? Discover a rare Victorian copy of four sections of the Bayeux Tapestry, hidden from view for more than a century.
• Best for: History enthusiasts, archaeology fans, lovers of medieval stories.

You probably know the story of the Bayeux Tapestry. But did you know Newcastle has its own version?

Commissioned in the 1850s by John Collingwood Bruce, this rare larger-than-full-scale copy was created by pupils at Percy Street Academy in Newcastle. Complete reproductions of the tapestry are uncommon, making this an extraordinary survival. 

After being donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1884, the drawing lay hidden until it was rediscovered in the early 1990s. Today it survives in 35 separate rolls, with four sections on display in this exhibition showing key moments from the famous story.

Part of Bayeux Around Britain: a British Museum partnership, supported by WorldQuant.

Bayeux-on-Tyne: Drawing the Bayeux Tapestry | Great North Museum: Hancock | Newcastle upon Tyne | 10 October 2026 – 17 January 2027 | free entry

• Why visit? See the story of one of the North East's best-known businesses told through an extraordinary eight-metre-long embroidered artwork.
• Best for: Greggs fans, local history lovers, design enthusiasts.

This playful exhibition charts the rise of the Greggs the bakers, from local North East business to high street institution, through an epic embroidered artwork inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry.  

Look closely and you'll spot everything from founder John Gregg's delivery bike and post-war bakers, to the Vegan Sausage Roll debate that divided the nation.

The Greggs Ta-Pastry combines traditional craftsmanship with a healthy dose of North East humour. 

Greggs Ta-Pastry | Great North Museum: Hancock | Newcastle upon Tyne | 24 October 2026 – 17 January 2027 | free entry

• Why visit? Discover how some of Britain's most influential ceramic artists transformed clay into a surface for drawing, painting and artistic expression.
• Best for: Art lovers, makers and creatives, ceramics enthusiasts.

People often think of clay as something to sculpt - but many artists saw clay as their canvas.

This new exhibition explores how British ceramicists in the 20th century used drawing, painting and mark-making to transform their clay canvases.

The Potter's Canvas features over 70 works – a mix of ceramics, paintings and prints from the exceptional collections of the Hatton, Shipley and Laing art galleries. Artists include: Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Alison Britton, Elizabeth Fritsch, Patrick Heron, Victor Pasmore, and many others.

The Potter’s Canvas: Ceramics and Painting in the 20th Century | Hatton Gallery | Newcastle upon Tyne | 19 September 2026 - 16 January 2027 | free entry

• Why visit? Get up close to a remarkable 17th-century masterpiece and uncover the symbols of status, wealth and power hidden within the painting.
• Best for: Art lovers, history enthusiasts, fans of French and European painting.

Following on from Claude Monet's visit to South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, another masterpiece painting has arrived in South Tyneside, thanks to the National Gallery's Masterpiece Tour.

Pierre Mignard's The Marquise de Seignelay (1691) depicts a French noblewoman and her children as figures from classical mythology. The Marquise is the sea-goddess Thetis. Her sumptuous robe is painted using ultramarine, a highly expensive blue pigment, as a show of her fortune and power.

Mignard: The Power of Posing | South Shields Museum & Art Gallery | 29 August – 8 November 2026 | free entry

• Why visit? See historic steam and diesel locomotives in action during one of the biggest weekends in the North East railway calendar.
• Best for: Railway enthusiasts, families, engineering and transport fans.

Organised by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association, the Autumn Gala will see all available locomotives from the home fleet operating a packed timetable of steam and diesel-hauled passenger and freight trains.

Autumn Gala | Stephenson Steam Railway | North Shields | weekend of 24–25 October 2026 | admission charges apply

• Why visit? A playful, hands-on exhibition designed especially for younger children who love vehicles, movement and imaginative play.
• Best for: Families with young children and preschoolers.

Discovery Museum has got a new space for special exhibitions (we've said a fond farewell to the old Working Lives gallery).

The inaugural exhibition is especially for families with children aged 7 and under. Things That Go! is transport-themed, which is fitting given Tyneside's rich engineering, maritime and rail history.

From boats, buses and bicycles to tractors, trains and planes, get ready to explore the exciting world of transport through hands-on play and truckloads of toys. 

Sounds like fun!

Things That Go! | Discovery Museum | Newcastle upon Tyne | 1 August 2026 – 28 February 2027 | free entry

• Why visit? A moving portrait of Ashington and its people, captured over more than four decades by one of the North East's most important documentary photographers.
• Best for: Photography enthusiasts, local history lovers.

Coal Town Collection presents photographs made by social documentary photographer Mik Critchlow (1955—2023). 

Mik documented his home town and community of Ashington over a 45-year period and personally selected these photographs for display at Woodhorn Museum. 

Mik began this extraordinary long-term photography project in 1977, after seeing an exhibition by the Ashington Group of artists. 

Mik Critchlow: Coal Town Collection | Woodhorn Museum | Ashington, Northumberland | ongoing exhibition | admission charges apply