Today is officially the first day of Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages 2026. Registration is open for schools, community schools and groups to take part in a wide range of FREE activities for 3-18 year olds across the North East and the UK. Running until 31st March 2026, there is plenty of time to get involved, but early booking is recommended.
Pick and mix from a wide range of events and activities over the three months to make the most of the Festival.
At its heart, the Festival exists to make languages feel alive, relevant and accessible. Through free live in-person and online events, competitions, creative projects and classroom activities with teaching resources, the Festival helps pupils build confidence, communication skills, curiosity and intercultural understanding – skills that matter in an increasingly interconnected world.
The easiest way to find out what’s on is to download the full programme or age-specific programmes and follow the links to the events and activities that you are interested in – each activity page has information on how to get involved:
- Click here to download the full Festival programme for North East Schools
- Click here to download the Early Years and Primary Festival programme
- Click here to download the KS3-5 Festival programme
- Click here to download the UK Schools programme
Connect with the Festival online: facebook | instagram | X | Newsletter
You can also explore the Festival through themed activities, which have been grouped to make them easy to browse:
All the live events taking place from January to March. Online and in person events are listed chronologically. Book early, especially for any in-person events, which always fill up quickly.
Creative multilingual projects and classroom based activities with teaching resources running to the end of March, as well as three Festival competitions with deadlines in early Feb/March
There are 5 languages and careers webinars in March, classroom activities for NE schools, in person events and a range of resources to support discussions around languages and careers in schools
Enthuse your pupils! Find out about the 3 Festival competitions, as well as other national competitions and celebrations open during the Festival period.
Activities and events involving involve any/all languages, enabling children and young people to celebrate diverse languages and cultures.
Celebrates the diverse languages and cultures of the world through a range of projects, events and classroom activities and competitions.
The Festival is hosted and co-ordinated by International Newcastle and involves over 50 local, regional, national and international partners. Find out more here.
The Festival is part-funded by North East Combined Authority
