Welcome to this week's edition of The Newy List!

September has arrived with a Spiegeltent in Civic Park, a winery trail up Mount View way, and enough live music to make the Inner City Bypass feel almost worthwhile. There is also a very good excuse to wander Morpeth, inspect some rather serious orchids, or settle beside the water at Lemon Tree Passage on Sunday. It is a properly full week, so make a cup of tea, choose your level of enthusiasm, and read on for the lot.

Strut & Fret opens its new Spiegeltent season with an adults-only cabaret and circus show featuring international performers, brass, acrobatics and a fair amount of sequins. The run begins this Friday in Civic Park.

•When: Friday 4 September, 7:00 pm

•Where: Spiegeltent, Newcastle Civic Park

•Price: From $90

•More info: Show details and tickets

Pace Live brings a two-hour production of Irish music, dance and storytelling to the Civic Theatre. It is an all-ages Sunday matinee, which makes the timing rather civilised.

•When: Sunday 6 September, 4:00 pm

•Where: Civic Theatre, Newcastle

•Price: From $64.50

•More info: Show details and tickets

Take the slow route through seven Mount View cellar doors, with tasting tokens, a souvenir glass and courtesy bus transport included. The participating wineries have their own optional tastings, plates and add-ons across the day.

•When: Saturday 5 September, 10:00 am–4:00 pm

•Where: Mount View Road, Mount View

•Price: $35

•More info: Book Discover Mount View

Diesel’s Playhouse show is shaped by audience requests, drawing from his catalogue, collaborations and the records that influenced him. Ticket-holders can submit song choices before the show.

•When: Friday 4 September, 7:30 pm

•Where: Playhouse, Civic Theatre, Newcastle

•Price: From $99.90

•More info: Show details and tickets

New Zealand synth-pop artist Ladyhawke brings her 2026 tour to King Street Bandroom for a Friday-night club show. A good option for anyone whose playlist has never fully moved on from the late 2000s.

•When: Friday 4 September, 8:00 pm

•Where: King Street Bandroom, Newcastle West

•Price: $56.65

•More info: Tickets

Toni Childs performs a two-hour career-spanning concert, revisiting songs from Union, House of Hope, The Woman’s Boat and more, alongside newer work and stories from the road.

•When: Saturday 5 September, 7:30 pm

•Where: Performance Arts Culture Cessnock, Cessnock

•Price: $79 adult

•More info: Show details and tickets

A West Virginia band with a country-rock and Appalachian sound heads to Flamingos Live for a Thursday dinner-and-show evening. Expect guitars, close harmonies and a set built for the old Lizotte’s room.

•When: Thursday 3 September, doors from 6:00 pm; show from 8:30 pm

•Where: Flamingos Live, Lambton

•Price: From $44

•More info: Show details and tickets

C.W. Stoneking brings his singular blend of hokum blues, old-time gospel and jungle exotica to the Stag & Hunter. His voice seems to have taken the scenic route from another decade, and the Mayfield room is exactly the right size to hear every strange, glorious detail.

When: Wednesday, 2 September, 7pm

Where: The Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield · From $50

🔗 Tickets and details

Em Rusciano brings her latest cabaret-comedy show to the Civic Theatre. It is recommended for audiences 16 and over and contains coarse language and adult themes.

•When: Friday 4 September, 8:00 pm

•Where: Civic Theatre, Newcastle

•Price: $59.90

•More info: Show details and tickets

The touring showcase gathers a rotating line-up of comedians from the 2026 Sydney Comedy Festival for one Saturday-night bill. The Civic Theatre page lists Matt Okine, Luke Heggie, Bec Charlwood, David Smiedt and others among the acts.

•When: Saturday 5 September, 8:00 pm

•Where: Civic Theatre, Newcastle

•Price: $65

•More info: Show details and tickets

MAP mima opens an immersive work shaped by The Useless Assembly and local artist Doug Heslop, exploring diverse ways of thinking, seeing and making in the venue’s 360-degree projection cube.

•When: Saturday 5 September, 12:00–2:00 pm

•Where: MAP mima, Speers Point

•Price: Free

•More info: Event details and registration

Start a three-week pen-and-ink course with Hunter artist and educator Dr Trevor Weekes. The workshop covers drawing, watercolour and ink-wash techniques; beginners are welcome, although it is designed as an intermediate focus.

•When: Tuesday 1 September, 9:30 am–12:30 pm

•Where: MAC yapang, Booragul

•Price: $95, plus booking fee

•More info: Course details and booking

The Slow Food Earth Market returns to The Levee with growers and producers selling fruit, vegetables, eggs, honey, oils, olives, herbs and other pantry-worthy things. Bring a bag; you know the drill.

•When: Thursday 3 September, from 8:30 am

•Where: The Levee, 396 High Street, Maitland

•Price: Free entry

•More info: Market details

This small-group, one-kilometre walking tour takes in Morpeth’s stories and streets before finishing at Boydell’s with chef tapas and local wine. Maximum group size is 12, so this is one for the organised among us.

•When: Sunday 6 September, 10:00 am–12:00 pm

•Where: Meet at Morpeth Deli & Fine Food Store, Morpeth

•Price: $100

•More info: Book the walking tour

The private dining domes on the Ms Mary terrace are still open for one more winter week, with European-inspired food, drinks and views across Newcastle. Book a Friday sitting before they pack the fairy lights away for the season.

•When: Friday 4 September, sittings at 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm

•Where: Ms Mary Terrace, Crystalbrook Kingsley, Newcastle

•Price: Price on booking

•More info: View the Winter Lodge and book

A low-fuss coastal Father’s Day option with food specials, children’s activities, live music and a pay-what-you-feel Karma Keg raising funds for the Salamander Bay Men’s Shed.

•When: Sunday 6 September, activities 12:00–2:00 pm; music from 2:30 pm

•Where: Shoal Bay Country Club, Shoal Bay

•Price: Free entry

•More info: Event details

Local photographs and stories take over the Node at MAP mima in an outdoor digital exhibition that loops from late afternoon into the evening. It is an easy after-work wander around the lake’s cultural precinct.

•When: Friday 4 September, 5:00–9:00 pm

•Where: MAP mima, Speers Point

•Price: Free

•More info: Exhibition details

The Spring Orchid Show brings judged displays, plant sales, a raffle and growers willing to offer practical advice, which may be more useful than another online search conducted while staring at a slightly unhappy orchid.

•When: Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September, 9:00 am–3:00 pm

•Where: Morpeth School of Arts, Morpeth

•Price: From $2

•More info: Show details

Tilligerry Community Association’s waterside afternoon brings Lenny & The Jets, classic muscle cars, a sausage sizzle, raffles and room for a picnic. Bring a chair and make a day of it by the bay.

•When: Sunday 6 September, 12:00–4:00 pm

•Where: Henderson Park, Lemon Tree Passage

•Price: Free

•More info: Event details

Foreshore Park becomes a medieval village for the weekend, with re-enactors, artisans, merchant stalls, cannon fire and the Newcastle Buhurt Cup. It is family-friendly, gloriously visual and one of those rare outings where a cloak is entirely reasonable outerwear.

When: Saturday, 5 September, from 10am

Where: Foreshore Park, Newcastle East · From $30

Tix: Tickets and details/

Tucked up on the hill behind the brewery at Bobs Farm, Sunset+Vine is a small mezze restaurant and cellar door with vineyard views stretching towards Tilligerry Creek. It is the sort of place people drive straight past on the Nelson Bay run, which is rather fortunate for those who like a quiet table and a proper tasting. Go late in the afternoon, take a seat outside if the weather behaves, and let the Mediterranean-style dishes do their quiet work. It is a lovely halfway stop between Newcastle and the bay when the usual coastal lunch spots feel a little too familiar.

Where: 3439A Nelson Bay Road, Bobs Farm

When: Friday–Sunday, 12pm–6pm

Have your own local secret? Reply and tell us where we should be looking next.

A small heads-up for later in September: the internationally touring dance production arrives at the Civic Theatre for one Friday night of ballroom, Latin and stage spectacle. If you like to book the good seats before everyone else remembers, this is your prompt.

•When: Friday 25 September, 7:30 pm

•Where: Civic Theatre, Newcastle

•Price: From $69

•More info: Show details and tickets

A much-loved family show with several performances, including an Auslan-interpreted Saturday matinee at 12:30pm. The best times tend to be the first to go, so it is worth choosing your preferred session now.

When: Saturday, 19 September and Sunday, 20 September

Where: Civic Theatre, Newcastle

Tickets and details/

Recommendation:

If The Newy List is what's on this week, Marram.com.au is the slower companion to it, a Sunday letter about the people and places that make this stretch of coast what it is.

Know someone who'd love this? Forward it on, they can subscribe free at thenewylist.com

Have a local event or business you think we should feature? Just hit reply, we read every message.

That's your week, Bye this week, rest up Knights. Finals in two weeks! See you out there. 🙌

The Newy List