As May bank holiday is just around the corner, all of us here at team r//evolution have put our heads together to offer our top picks to make the most of your long weekend in the region.
We’re firm believers that the North East is an amazing place to live and work and we’re reminded of this each day with our superb views of Newcastle from r//evolution HQ on the top floor of the prestigious Northern Design Centre. As it’s the bank holiday weekend, there’s plenty going on – but here are our recommendations:
Shopping
If you fancy a spot of retail therapy, be sure to check out Living North Live. The annual Spring Fair returns to offer a mixture of home, lifestyle, fashion, health and beauty products, with lots of fantastic local and regional suppliers too! Taking place on 28th-30th April at Newcastle Racecourse, this shopping event is always one to look forward to.
Boasting a range of inspirational interiors, we always find it ideal for picking up some lovely home items. Living North Live also has a huge food hall should you want a pit-stop or a tasty treat to help fuel you for all that shopping! We’ve all already got our tickets!
The great outdoors
If you want to get away from busy, city life then embrace nature this weekend and plan to explore the great outdoors. RSPB Saltholme nature reserve is a fantastic day out for the whole family – as one of our clients, we’re lucky to have been able to drop into the reserve in the past to see all the brilliant things they have on offer.
As well as an abundance of wildlife, there’s a café serving delicious meals, a brand new play area, a gift shop, a viewing area and recently re-vamped hides for bird watching. The big seasonal event, Lambing Live, is now over but the lambs are still on-site in the fields. So, if the Early May bank holiday has got you wanting to do something seasonal then visit Saltholme to see these newly-born lambs leaping around and enjoying life.
Alternatively, you may want to discover Northumberland National park with more than a thousand square kilometres of stunning scenery, wonderful wildlife, historic hillforts and of course, Hadrian's Wall.
Culture
This weekend marks the start of the annual Hexham book festival. With a whole host of events taking place, speakers include bestselling writers, thinkers, politicians, journalists and broadcasters, as well as up-and-coming writers and writers from the North East region. Some of the events are sold out already so take a look at their website, and get your favourite events booked before you miss out.
Both Ros and Frankie have already booked their tickets to see Paul Morley discuss his Sunday Times bestseller, An Age of Bowie. A number of the events will be taking place at Queen’s Hall – another one of our great clients – the venue is fabulous and definitely worth visiting either this weekend or to check out one of their events in the future.
Another solid favourite of team r//evolution is The Stand comedy club. If you fancy a light-hearted evening with plenty of laughs then this is the place for you! Why not combine it with an evening out and explore some of the exciting new restaurants in Grey’s Quarter, Eldon Square whilst you’re in town.
We hope you find something fun to do this bank holiday weekend, but whatever you get up to this, we hope it’s a great one!
The r//evolution office will be closed from 5:30pm Friday, re-opening on Tuesday 2nd May.
