What's On in South Tyneside: Festivals, Concerts and Events

South Tyneside packs a great deal into its calendar for a borough its size. Across South Shields, Jarrow, Hebburn, Cleadon and the Boldons there are seaside concerts, one of the country's best free summer festivals, and the finish line of the world's biggest half marathon. This is a guide to the annual highlights — and, at the end, where to find exactly what is on right now.

The Bents Park Sunday Concerts

The centrepiece of the South Tyneside summer is the run of Sunday Concerts at Bents Park on the South Shields seafront. For 2026 the line-up mixes chart names with local talent: the season opens on Sunday 19 July with South Shields' own Joe McElderry, joined by Sonia, 911 and local singers on a bill that coincides with Pride in South Tyneside; Sunday 26 July brings 80s favourites ABC with Chesney Hawkes; and the season closes on Sunday 2 August with a dance-led finale from Judge Jules, Ultrabeat, Phats & Small and Sweet Female Attitude.

For the first time in 2026 the concerts are ticketed, though prices have been kept deliberately low — £5 for ages 17 to 65, £2 for 11 to 16 and 66-plus, and free for under-10s.

Best for: Best for a proper free-feeling summer Sunday by the sea.

This is South Tyneside Festival

The Sunday Concerts are part of the wider This is South Tyneside Festival, which runs across the summer months. Alongside the Bents Park bills, the programme takes in live music at the seafront Amphitheatre, the colourful Summer Parade through South Shields to the coast, Proms in the Park, and a Kids Fun-Fest for younger visitors. Most of it is free, and it turns the town centre and seafront into the heart of the borough for weeks at a time.

The Great North Run

Every September, South Shields becomes the finish line for the Great North Run — the biggest half marathon in the world, run from Newcastle to the coast. The seafront fills with tens of thousands of runners and supporters, and it remains one of the great days in the town's year, whether you are running, cheering, or simply soaking up the atmosphere.

Best for: Best for one of the biggest days on the whole North East calendar.

Markets, culture and the seasons

Beyond the headline festivals, there is plenty ticking over year-round. The historic South Shields Market in the Market Place runs regular days with independent traders and street food, The Word — the National Centre for the Written Word — hosts talks, exhibitions and family activities, and the run-up to Christmas brings lights, markets and seasonal events across the borough.

Events across the whole borough

South Tyneside is more than its biggest town. Each of the neighbouring communities has its own character and its own things going on — explore our guides to Jarrow, Hebburn, and Cleadon and the Boldons to see what is on beyond the seafront.

What's on right now

Annual highlights are only half the story — for the most up-to-date listings of concerts, markets, family days and community events happening across South Tyneside over the coming weeks, see our full events calendar, which we keep refreshed throughout the year.

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