Last updated: 29 July 2023
The Great Exhibition of the North is the largest event in England in 2018. The mostly free event will showcase, innovation, art, design and big ideas from the North through exhibits, performances, and artwork for 80 days over the Summer.
Whilst the exhibition showcases the entire region of the North, we spent a few days in Newcastle Gateshead, home to many exhibits which also included the opening event on the River Tyne to officially launch the Exhibition.
In Newcastle there are three major Great Exhibition hubs; Great North Museum, Baltic and Sage Gateshead, which are linked to three colour-coded walking trails; Art, Design and Innovation. Each of the trails explore a different area of the city. We did a combination of all three trails to try and see everything of interest in the limited time we had.
When planning your visit the easiest way to tackle the Exhibition is to either download the app or grab a programme, and see what best suits your interests. One of the best things about using the app is the option to create your own custom trail which ensures that you explore the exhibits perfectly suited to your own taste.
Opening Event – Great Exhibition of the North
The launch of the Great Exhibition of the North was a ticketed, but free, event on 22 June, showcasing the regions creativity and ingenuity. We joined approximately 20,000 visitors on Newcastle’s Quayside the foreshore opposite Newcastle Gateshead iconic landmarks of Sage Gateshead and the former flour-mill now the Baltic Centre, for the opening celebration, where Newcastle’s own homegrown band, Maximo Park, rocked down the River Tyne on a barge.
Centre stage on the River Tyne lays the Get North Water Sculpture which at 80m long, is UK’s largest water sculpture. With 30 jets performing a choreographed display of vertical columns of water between 25m and 50m in the air from a pontoon moored from the jetty at HMS Calliope on the Gateshead side of the river.
The streets were awash with colour, live music from bands, and entertainment from street performers from across the North. From a flying machine to grannies riding shopping trolleys, Russ had a great chat with this young couple from West Yorkshire.
The local and well renowned poet Lemn Sissay performed a dramatic reading of his Anthem for the North from the illuminated Millennium Bridge which spans the River Tyne.
The evening climaxed with spectacular fireworks lighting up the skyline and something I’ve never seen before, a hundred drones fitted with LED lights forming choreographed 3D shapes in the sky the Sage music centre and the Baltic art gallery.
What I loved
In many aspects I’m a bit of a geek. I simply LOVE London’s Science Museum, so the opportunity to spend some time exploring Life at the Science Centre in Newcastle was too good an opportunity to pass up. As a part of the Great Exhibition of the North, the latest exhibition is Robots – Then and Now, which covers 500 years of robotics (yes! 500 years) with everything from the humble beginnings of mechanical automatons to the latest life-like humanoids, including the fist-bumping robots of the future.
There are many ways to define the word “awesome” but I think we might have a winner… here’s @RoamingRequired getting a fist bump from a robot 🤩 (@scienceatlife) #GetNorth2018 pic.twitter.com/SRxP7FxOEW
— Russell (@russellofearth) June 23, 2018
The planetarium inside the Science Centre has a show called Naked Eye Astronomy. Living in the heart of London I rarely see stars anymore, maybe it’s due to the fog and cloud-cover or the level of light pollution from one of busiest cities on earth. I know that if I step into the countryside or perhaps on an isolated location like Iceland or Canada there are millions of stars that light up our skies. The Planetarium looks at how to spot them with the naked eye, what stars are and why they’re important. I found it to be a fabulous 20 min bite-size session on stars and how to find Orion’s belt in the night sky.
Also at the Science Centre was a Great Geordie Bridges show. In essence, this new addition to the Science Centre is all about Newcastle’s bridges. A 20 min talk focuses on the bridges dotted along the River Tyne, why they’re the shape and style that they are and how life in Newcastle improved with each addition. While it would certainly appeal to kids, We found it really interesting.
At £15 per person (adults), I feel the entry fee is on the high side, especially given there’s so many free events as a part of the Exhibition of the North. However after spending just a few hours there we only scratched the surface. It would be a great day out for adults and kids alike, there’s a little bit for everyone and providing you’re into it, it’s well worth the expense.
Is it a library, a quirky museum or a gallery? You have to visit to decide for yourself.
The Lit & Phil was established 225 years ago as a library, after which it quickly began to receive interesting artefacts from all over the world. As the collection expanded, the Natural History Society was formed and took over the collections. Nowadays, the Lit & Phil the largest independent library outside London, housing over 160,000 books.
In terms of the Great Exhibition of the North, the Lit & Phil is playing host to the illuminating story of the light bulb. Where, Sunderland local, Sir Joseph Swan demonstrated his incandescent light bulb in 1880 for the very first time.
Remake a Take is scattered throughout the city in the form of a series of interactive movie stills for you to remake a scene from a famous movie, filmed in or based on The North. We found Get Carter (the Michael Caine classic which Russ assures me is one of the greatest gangster films of all time) and Brief Encounter, from way back in 1945, at Newcastle Central Station. Don’t stop at just these two, there’s many more throughout the city, featuring other iconic Northern films like Billy Elliott, East is East.
Steve Messam’s Whistle, a series of steam engine whistles starting at Newcastle’s Central station at 1pm and, in sequence, the sound will reverberate around the edge of the city along the line of the town’s medieval wall. Subtle but quite cool once you know what to listen for!
The Grey’s Monument, named after Earl Grey, yes like the tea, is a landmark in the city. Once upon a time, many moons ago, I climbed to the top, using the tiny spiral staircase that runs up through its hollow core. For the Exhibition of the North, the Grey’s Monument wasn’t open but instead is turned into a colourful Maypole, an homage to Grey, who is credited with establishing a fairer society for the people of Northumberland.
Lego – ha no Lego wasn’t created in the North, but 50,000 of these famous Danish bricks were the medium used by a local artist and fulltime Lego modeller, Steve Mayes, to showcase some of the many innovations and icons of The North.
Everything from the design of the first iPod, iconic northern bands like The Beatles who changed the face of music, Amy Johnson, who was the first woman to fly from Britain to Australia solo, the Mr Men books who were created by Yorkshire-born Roger Hargreaves were all represented in Lego. One model that hit a bit close to home was Sir Ove Arup, who was the chief engineer on the Sydney Harbour Bridge project!
Art Trail
The entrance is so subtle we almost walked right past it. The About the North: Imagined Dialogues is a photography exhibition by local artists documenting the lives and landscapes of The North.
Visually compelling are many pieces which document the broad spectrum of Northern experiences, including some which were heart-wrenching challenges faced by low income earners, illness and poverty displayed on film, to some quirky very Northern events. The exhibit is spread out across three floors, the first floor is a bit squishy, but do persevere to see the rest. Allow at least 30 minutes if not longer.
intu Eldon Square is Newcastle’s main shopping centre in the centre of town. With 3-4 exhibits situated inside the centre it can be a bit of a challenge to find them all, and as most shopping centres are on weekends, it was rammed full of people. We managed to find intu’s LBD, which was made from the Graphene, a mineral that is a million times thinner than human hair and 200 times stronger than steel. Incredible! Even more so that the dress is fitted with LED lights that change colour to match the breathing of whoever is wearing it!
Exhibitions I Missed
With a huge number of exhibits across three trails throughout the city it was never going to be possible to see everything. We picked out ones of specific interest, or added additional ones based on their proximity to something else we saw.
One I was really sad to miss was The Great North Museum. With a variety of elements and exhibitions of personal interest, one being Helen Sharman the first Briton in space and a piano owned by a member of the most famous British band of all time, John Lennon.
Discovery Museum with Rocket – fooled by England’s long summer nights, this event closes at 6pm, with the sun so high in the sky it lead us to believe it was only 3pm! What did we miss? Well Rocket Reimagined uses virtual reality to transport you back to 1829 to experience the sights and sounds of the early steam age. Sounds a bit like Back to the Future III doesn’t it?!
Also inside the Discovery Centre was Little Inventors North 2030, where children across the region were asked to come up with inventions of what they thought life would be like in 2030. I thought it would be really cool to see a kids interpretation of life by the time many of them finish school.
Intu’s shopping centre was heaving with people so it’s hardly surprising we missed a couple of the big exhibits there. One being Sagacity, the periodic table of emotions that uses Twitter to measure feelings. Being the big Twitter fans we are it was a shame to miss this one.
Deepframe, the world’s largest mixed reality display, somewhere inside the intu centre, is meant to blend the virtual world with real environment locations – it was a shame we couldn’t locate it!
What Didn’t Quite Do It For Me
We Are Where We Are, located in Baltic 39, it’s a modern art exhibition which, if I’m being very honest, was a bit lost on me.
One of the exhibits included some stools painted burgundy with more legs than required which turned them from functional seating into art.
Another exhibit was simply a TV showing an interview between a man and two models. I left Baltic 39 feeling more confused about modern art.
Where to Stay in Newcastle
Newcastle offers visitors a a variety of accommodation, from hostels to boutique hotels and everything in between. Despite the hills, the city is very walkable and relatively easy to navigate on foot.
Newcastle Hotels
If we’ve managed to convince you to Get North this summer, then you’ll surely need somewhere to rest your head.
For this weekend we stayed at Motel One Newcastle. This German hotel chain offers affordable and modern rooms in handy locations all across Europe. In Newcastle, Motel One is situated on a quiet alley, close enough to the nightlife on Bigg Market yet far enough to not be disturbed by the noise. Rooms are compact and clean offering the necessities such as a TV and free WiFi. The lobby, bar and restaurant are designed to be used by guests with a variety of seating areas available to suit all needs, to work, socialise or party, they have you sorted.
If you’re seeking something more upmarket, Hotel Indigo offers 4-star accommodation just a 2 minute walk from Central Station.
Booking.com
Verdict: Great Exhibition of the North
The entire exhibition is huge and encompasses so many facets of the region’s heritage, ingenuity and creative spirit. Visiting for just a few days such as over weekend will mean you’ll need to be picky with the exhibitions you see. Choose wisely!
The Essentials
The Great Exhibition of The North
When: 22 June – 09 September 2018
Cost: Most events are free, although some require pre-booking.
More Info: Get the most out of this great event by reading the programme and downloading the Get North 2018 app onto your smartphone.
