We are delighted to share the report from this year’s Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages, our sixth annual celebration of the North East’s diverse languages and cultures and our connections to the world for children and young people aged 3-18.
We are grateful to all the pupils, teachers, schools and partners who took part and made this our best Festival yet.
Click here to download the 2026 Festival Report
The full Festival programme of 109 activities was open to North East schools, community schools and groups. There was an extensive UK Schools’ Programme. International schools engaged with the Festival’s world friendship project and could also get involved through their North East partner schools.
It had the largest participation to date, with 116,669 children and young people participating from 464 individual schools, many registering for multiple activities.
The Festival is the largest event of its type in the UK and Europe and has grown steadily in terms of content and reach since 2021. It is hosted and coordinated by International Newcastle.
Some highlights from the report are in this article. The report also has links to the Festival films and creative products produced by children and young people in the North East – e-books, song video and digital photobook. There are also further information and links provided so you can keep informed of developments for any future Festivals.
Acknowledgements
The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority provided core funding for Festival coordination, communications, commissions and evaluation, as well as supporting promotion. We are grateful for the support provided by North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and her staff.
Thank you to all the children and young people, schools and teachers who participated so enthusiastically in the Festival. We are also grateful to teachers who responded to the feedback survey, providing invaluable insights into how the activities were received, what worked well and what can be improved in future.
We are grateful to all our delivery partners, who provided a wealth of enriching activities for the Festival. Thanks also to the networks and partners who shared and promoted Festival activities across the North East and the UK. In addition, we thank our Festival videographers, B7 for producing five filmed case studies, providing insights into Festival experiences and legacy for the Festival.
Planning for the next Festival
Given the continued success of the Festival, demonstrated through its growing reach, impact on pupils and schools and the positive feedback from both teachers and partners, there is a strong desire and commitment to running the Festival again in 2027. This is dependent on core funding for the Festival Team, commissions and evaluation.
Funding is being explored and outcomes should be known in September. In the meantime, planning is starting (at risk) with partners, based on the success of the current programme, feedback from partners and teachers and suggestions for new activities.
If funding is secured, the 2027 Festival timeline will be the same as this year, with ideation continuing to September, confirmation of content in October and the programme launching for advance registrations in November. A three month Festival would then run from January to March 2027, followed by evaluation.
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