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

1. Treasure: Hidden, Lost, Found at Great North Museum: Hancock
2. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025 at Laing Art Gallery
3. Steam Gala 2026 at Stephenson Steam Railway
4. Newcastle University BA Fine Art Degree Show 2026 at Hatton Gallery
5. Following the Eagle at Segedunum Roman Fort
6. Tunes in June: Rivelino at Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort
7. The Northumberland Miners' Picnic at Woodhorn Museum
8. Pre-Raphaelites: Art and Poetry at Laing Art Gallery
9. Things That Go at Discovery Museum
10. The Marquise de Seignelay at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery

But wait. There's more...

What links Roman coins, Viking Age silver, and a buried stash of Tudor coins?

They're all things you can see in this glittering new exhibition which shows why buried history matters.

What is Treasure, exactly? What makes something valuable? Who does the past belong to? The answers to these questions will be revealed to you!

This is a family-friendly exhibition that adults will love too, with loans from the British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland and the Roman Vindolanda.

Treasure: Hidden, Lost, Found | Great North Museum: Hancock | Newcastle upon Tyne | 28 March – 20 September 2026 | free entry

The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025 is coming to Newcastle from the National Portrait Gallery, London. The exhibition has 46 portraits, including the overall winner, Moira Cameron's self-portrait.

If that wasn't enough, it's two exhibitions for the price of one. The ticket includes entry to Exploring Identity, a new curation of portraits from the Laing, Shipley and Hatton art collections. 

Exploring Identity provides historical context to the Portrait Award show and features some big-name artists: Francis Bacon, Christina Robertson, Frederic Leighton, Harold Knight and more.

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025 and Exploring Identity | Laing Art Gallery | Newcastle upon Tyne | 28 March - 5 September 2026 | admission charges apply

Organised by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association, the Steam Gala 2026 is a rare opportunity to see a former Wallsend workhorse in steam on Tyneside for the first time in over 50 years.

The locomotive "Lion" worked on Wallsend Slipway on the banks of the Tyne, and is visiting from Lincolnshire Wolds Railway.

Across the Gala weekend, there will be an intensive timetable of passenger and demonstration freight trains, including 'double headers' and 'top and tailed' trains. 

Expect an impressive display of classic cars and local history stalls inside the museum, too.

Steam Gala 2026 | Stephenson Steam Railway | North Shields | 10am - 5pm, weekend of 5, 6, 7 June 2026 | admission charges apply

The Newcastle University BA Fine Art Degree Show 2026 is the culmination of four years' study for undergraduate students at one of the UK's most prestigious art schools.

With work by 57 artists on display, you can expect a wide range of media including painting, sculpture and audiovisual installation.

Hatton Gallery is tucked away in the Fine Art building at Newcastle University but it's open to everyone so please don't be shy! It is an amazing space to explore.

There is an Open Preview for this exhibition on Friday 22 May 2026, 6-9pm. All are welcome.

Newcastle University BA Fine Art Degree Show 2026 | Hatton Gallery | Newcastle upon Tyne | 23 May - 6 June 2026 | free entry

Find yourself thinking about the Roman Empire often? This exhibition could be for you. Following the Eagle features military diplomas alongside other archaeological artefacts.

A diploma was a document inscribed in bronze, a sort of 'honourable discharge' certificate given to members of the armed forces, usually after 25 years' service. It could also mean that the holder had been granted Roman citizenship.

A career in the Roman military often meant phenomenal amounts of travel, and that's one of the main themes here. Take for instance Statius Priscus, commander of the Fourth Cohort of Lingonians. His 18 different posts took him to seven provinces right across the Empire.

Following the Eagle | Segedunum Roman Fort | Wallsend, North Tyneside | 28 March – 3 October 2026 | admission charges apply

Local band RIVELINO returns to Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort for an afternoon of great musical entertainment.

Playing music from The Killers, Bruce Springsteen and Oasis, through to the Rolling Stones, Stereophonics, Sam Cook and many more, RIVELINO's performance is always delivered with humour and enthusiasm.

Make a day of it - after visiting the museum, enjoy your own picnic on our lawn or in our picnic area whilst listening (and maybe dancing) to some great live music. There will also be a pop up coffee van.

Tunes in June: RIVELINO | Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort | 1-3.15pm, Saturday 20 June 2026 | admission charges apply

The Northumberland Miners' Picnic is an incredibly important celebration of mining tradition for the communities of Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Ellington and beyond.

But it's also a family day out that's tremendously fun, whatever the weather. Expect live music, street theatre, kid's activities, food stalls and special free entry to Woodhorn Museum.

The Northumberland Miners' Picnic | Woodhorn Museum | Ashington, Northumberland | 10am - 5pm, Saturday 13 June 2026 | free entry 

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 Siddal, 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

Discovery Museum is getting a new space for special exhibitions (we're saying a fond farewell to the old Working Lives gallery).

The inaugural exhibition is especially for families with kids aged 7 and under. Things That Go will be 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 | summer 2026 (watch this space) | free entry

Following on from Claude Monet's visit to South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, another masterpiece painting is on its way to 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.

Meanwhile, her eight-year-old son appears as the Greek hero Achilles (Thetis' son by the mortal Peleus)

The Marquise de Seignelay | South Shields Museum & Art Gallery | 29 August – 8 November 2026 | free entry

We have so much going on in 2026, we couldn't fit it all into a top 10 list. The best of the rest is listed below, and we'll keep adding more!

• See the After the Fire exhibition at Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort (30 March - 27 September 2026)
• See Mik Critchlow: The Coal Town Collection at Woodhorn Museum (Wednesday - Sunday)
• Take a Heritage Train Ride at Stephenson Steam Railway (Sundays during the April - October running season)
• See the Sublime Landscapes exhibition at Laing Art Gallery (Monday - Saturday until 5 December 2026)
• See Chris Killip: The Last Ships at Laing Art Gallery (Monday - Saturday)
• See a Planetarium show at the Great North Museum: Hancock (daily)
• See the Steam to Green exhibiton at Discovery Museum (daily)
• Join a Picture of the Month tour with the Friends of the Laing Art Gallery (every Saturday, 11am)
• See the Our Voice (Apni Aawaaz) display at Discovery Museum (until 31 May 2026)
• Explore the Saltwell Towers collection at Shipley Art Gallery (Tuesday - Saturday).