Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated on 27 January each year across the world. The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 is Bridging Generations. There are a range of activities taking place in Newcastle across January and into early February, as well as across the UK and resources to support year-round exploration and education.
This year, Bridging Generations is not just a theme, it is also a call to action. A reminder that remembrance is all our responsibility. It encourages us to actively engage with the past, to listen and to learn so that we can build a bridge between memory and action and between history and hope for the future.
Events in Newcastle January-February
A list of the events taking place in Newcastle is below and there are more details at each of the links and about the whole programme on the City Council’s webpage: Newcastle’s Holocaust Memorial Day programme.
- The Forgotten Holocaust – exhibition (19-31 January, West End Library) dedicated to Roma and Sinti victims
- In the footsteps of the holocaust: The story and letters of a German Jewish family – talk (22 Jan, City Library)
- Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration – by invite or application only (26 January, Civic Centre)
- Understanding the Holocaust in an Age of Emboldened Racism – lecture (29 January, City Library)
- Bridging Generations – Roma Commemorative Event (30 January, Civic Centre Memorial Garden)
- The Last Musician of Auschwitz – film (4 February, Tyneside Cinema)
- ‘Just Freddy’ by Joel Stern – book talk (5 February, City Library and online)
- Brundibár Arts Festival (31 January to 8 February) The Brundibár Arts festival is an annual programme of events that showcases little known music written during the Holocaust.
- Brundibár Arts Festival: opening concert (31 January, St James United Reform Church)
- Brundibár Arts Festival: short concert 1 (2 February, Lit and Phil)
- Brundibár Arts Festival: short concert 2 (3 February, Lit and Phil)
- Brundibár Arts Festival: short concert 3 (3 February, Brunswick Methodist Church)
- Brundibár Arts Festival: A Voice Not Stilled – concert (5 February, St James United Reform Church)
- Brundibár Arts Festival: short concert 4 (7 February, All Saints Church)
- Brundibár Arts Festival: short concert 5 (7 February, All Saints Church)
- Brundibar Arts Festival: closing concert (8 February, King’s Hall, Newcastle University)
Other ways to take part in Holocaust Memorial Day and access resources
Every year local Holocaust Memorial Day activities take place across the UK. They bring people from all backgrounds together to learn more about the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and the genocides that followed. They also offer an opportunity for people to consider how we can all make our society a better place that is free from hatred, prejudice and discrimination. Holocaust Memorial Day Trust supports individuals and organisations to mark Holocaust Memorial Day by providing free resources, historical information, stories of people who lived through the Holocaust and ideas for how to get involved.
- Click here to find out more about how to get involved
- Click here for the resources available to support learning and education all year round, including life stories of survivors and those who were murdered, virtual activities, schools materials, films, images and more
Light the Darkness
Every year people from across the UK and around the world put a lit candle in their window to Light the Darkness. Join the national Light the Darkness moment at 8pm on Monday 27 January.
In Newcastle, the Civic Centre and other public areas will be lit purple as residents from across the city light candles in memory of victims of the Holocaust and other genocides, in tribute to the survivors and to take a stand against the prejudice, discrimination and hatred that still exist today.
The history of Holocaust Memorial Day in Newcastle
Newcastle has been an active and committed contributor to the national Holocaust Memorial Day programme since its inception in 2000. The programme allows our city to commemorate and show our respect for the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides and engages residents from all backgrounds in delivering a programme of creative and educational activity which:
- Recognises and examines discrimination and discriminatory behaviour and its consequences
- Encourages appropriate opposition to discrimination
- Creates a better understanding of the history and origins of people and communities that have settled in our city
- Encourages greater tolerance and social inclusion, and
- Contributes to the council’s ambitions around equality.
Newcastle’s programme is nationally recognised and, in 2007, we became the first UK city that was not a national capital to host the National Commemorative Event. In 2015, Newcastle City Council stopped delivering Holocaust Memorial Day directly. Instead they decided to offer funding to independent projects that provided a focal point for remembrance.
The programme has grown and now includes dozens of activities including films, plays, concerts and lectures. This approach has been a great success and has created opportunities for more people to be involved in a way that includes and reflects the diversity, experiences, skills and knowledge of the people and communities who live and work in Newcastle. There are a mix of online and in person activities.
Click here to find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day in Newcastle.