Thursday 14 to Saturday 16 May 2026
Experience Classics Like Never Before
A collaboration between the Lit & Phil and the School of History, Classics & Archaeology at Newcastle University
Produced by Cinzia Hardy
 

ClassicsFest returns for its third year, this time to celebrate food, wine, and domestic life in the ancient Greek and Roman world.

Enjoy a feast of events including food demonstrations, wine tastings, performances, lectures, and discussions. The full programme will be announced in early 2026.

Highlights include:

• Sally Grainger, chef, historian and experimental archaeologist, discussing her new book Roman Recipes for Modern Cooks with Anna Hedworth, chef, writer and owner of The Cookhouse in Ouseburn, and Dr Kathryn Tempest.

• Cooking with Apicius, a writing competition that will lead to a newly commissioned performance to be staged at Alphabetti Theatre.

• Reimagining Euripides’ Bacchae - a staged reading of selected scenes introduced by Prof Athanassis Vergados, followed by a creative response led by writer and poet Kirsten Luckins, featuring young writers from New Writing North’s Creative Writing Programme.

​

Watch this space for more details!

​

​ClassicsFest has been made possible with funding from The Community Foundation of Tyne & Wear and Northumberland Newcastle Culture Investment Fund, The David Family Foundation, The Leche Trust, the Institute of Classical Studies and Classics For All North.

​

​​

Photos: Jason Thompson