Tees Valley’s Top Events for 2024

Major sporting events, open air festivals, large-scale live music plus food, markets and art – there’s always something going on in Tees Valley! 

The Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF) is one of the key events in the region’s cultural calendar. Returning to the town on 2 to 4 August, the free outdoor arts and street theatre festival will transform Stockton into a feast of fun and wonder with hundreds of colourful and exciting performances from some of the world’s best artists and performers. 

Middlesbrough Mela is one of the biggest and most spectacular multicultural festival in the North East. The great programme runs 17 and 18 August in the beautiful surroundings of the town’s Albert Park, offering incredible food, market bazaar, arts and crafts, street performers, sports, games and musicians.  

Taste of Africa brings together the local community to showcase the expression of the African culture and runs a number of events throughout the year. In Middlesbrough Town Centre on Saturday, 14 September, the vibrant Africa Caribbean Parade & Market day returns for lively music, dazzling dance performances and fantastic stalls. 

If you’re after something more bespoke or unusual, look no further!

For your little ones aged 0 to 10, the free Hullabaloo in the Park will hit Darlington’s South Park from 26 to 28 July. Produced by Theatre Hullaballoo – the UK’s only dedicated children’s theatre north of London, it brings an outdoor extravaganza of performances, music, dance, storytelling, play spaces, entertainment, crafts, workshops and activities. 

You’ll be green with envy if you miss Billingham’s Festival of Thrift – an event celebrating the best of sustainable living. On 21 and 22 September, the town will be taken over with a weekend of crafts, workshops, performances and stalls highlighting the importance of sustainability, recycling, upcycling and ethical and environmental change. 

Growing and growing each year, Middlesbrough Art Week is the largest contemporary arts festival in the North East, taking place from 26 September to 4 October. This year’s festival – In the Now and the Far – seeks to negotiate the overlap and differences between cultural production and political action, for a thought-provoking, important and creative exhibition. 

Music lovers won’t be left out. 

Check out Stockton’s Gathering Sounds fantastic live music festival across a number of venues on 28 September. The celebration of emerging and local talent is fast becoming a must-see fixture. 

And Middlesbrough’s award-winning multi-venue music festival – Twisterella – is celebrating its tenth anniversary on Saturday 12 October. The event reflects some of the nation’s emerging talent, along with pop-up sessions in the town’s coolest bars.  

Finally, there are a host of Pride events taking place the length and breadth of the region throughout the summer. Grab your rainbow flags and head out to these  

Hartlepool Pop-Up Pride – Saturday 6 July 

Cleveland Pride in Saltburn – Sunday 7 July 

Stockton Pop-Up Pride – Saturday 27 July 

Darlington Pride Weekender – 10 to 12 August.