The This Is Tomorrow festival takes place in Exhibition Park, a large green space to the north of the City Centre, from Thursday to Sunday, with James headlining on Thursday as part of an extra day, with all profits going to the local NHS. We have had it confirmed directly by festival organisers that the gates are at 4.30pm but it is advertised elsewhere as being 2pm, which is wrong. The main entrance is accessed from the roundabout at Claremont Road, not the small entrance off Brandling Park.

Getting to the Venue

Public Transport.

Exhibition Park is situated on Claremont Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4PZ and is easily accessed by public transport. The nearest Metro station is Haymarket just a 13 minute walk away. You can also get the number 45 bus from Haymarket bus station (Stand S) which is just a short 2 minute walk from the Haymarket Metro. This will drop you outside the gates on Great North Road. If you are arriving via train at Central Station the quickest way will be to jump on the metro for 2 stops to Haymarket. Or it’s around a 30 minute walk.

Covid Requirements

The Festival does not appear to have any mandatory Covid requirements for entry, but they strongly suggest you take a lateral flow test prior to attending.

Parking

There is very little provision for parking next to Exhibition Park and on-street parking is Permit Only, although Blue Badge holders are able to park in Permit Only bays. The main car park is on Claremont Road but this has been made NHS only car park for the RVI Hospital so do not use. So you will need to park up a short distance away and walk.

• NCP car park on John Dobson Street, NE1 8HL (17 minute walk) (closes at 23:30)
• The Gate car park, Stowell Street NE1 4XQ (24 minute walk) (closes 2am)
• Grainger Town Multi Storey Waterloo Street, NE4 7SD (30 minute walk) (or 5 minute walk to Central Station Metro) (closes at 00:00)
• Times Square car park Forth Street, NE1 4AD (37 minute walk)  (or 5 minute walk to Central Station Metro) (open 24/7)
• Although the closest DO NOT PARK AT ELDON SQUARE MULTI STOREY. THIS CLOSES AT 22:00. There are some other smaller car parks around this area, but parking will be limited.

Food and drink

Fast Food

Being so close to the City Centre, there are plenty fast food restaurants on Northumberland Street, the main pedestrianised shopping street in the city – just a 15 minute walk away from the venue and close to Haymarket Metro and Bus Station. This includes McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Greggs, Eat4Less, 5 Guys and Pop up Wok.

Restaurants

The best place to go for restaurants is Eldon Square Shopping centre a 20 minute walk away from the venue. There is a food quarter with a wide variety of restaurants. This includes Pizza Express, Nandos, Ask Italian, Wagamama’s, Bella Italia, Chiquito, Umai Mi Oriental Kitchen and Pizza Storm. There are maps in the shopping centre to show the locations of each of these restaurants.

Pubs/Bars

There are bars and pubs scattered across the city and all in this list serve food Percy Street is the main street for pubs, and is a short walk from Haymarket Metro.

The Junction (Greene King), Percy Arms, The Hotspur, Three Bulls Heads and Crows Nest (Greene King) are all on Percy Street, serve food and are a 13-14 minute walk from Exhibition Park.

A little way further on, you will find the City Tavern, Northumberland Road (17 minute walk)

THIS MAP is an interactive Google Map of more pubs and places to eat in Newcastle Centre (opens in new tab)

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You can find a great map of Newcastle City Centre HERE (opens in new tab) – showing pedestrianised areas, Metro stations, bus stops and parking, with the edge of Exhibition Park at the very top of the map. A copy of this map is reproduced below too.