FOOD & FEASTING IN ANTIQUITY-
CLASSICSFEST 2026
Experience Classics Like Never Before
Thursday 14 to Saturday 16 May 2026
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:
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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.
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Cooking with Apicius, a writing competition that will lead to a newly commissioned performance to be staged at Alphabetti Theatre.
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Reimagining Euripides’ Bacchae - a staged reading of selected scenes introduced by Prof Athanassios 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 Community Foundation North East - Newcastle Culture Investment Fund, The David Family Foundation, The Leche Trust, the Institute of Classical Studies, The Roman Society - Schools Fund, Classics For All North and The Hellenic Society.
Photos: Jason Thompson
CAlling North East WRiters:
Enter the CLASSICSFEST 2026 Writing Competition
ClassicsFest returns to the Lit & Phil from 14 to 16 May 2026 with Food & Feasting in Antiquity - and we’re launching an exciting new writing competition to mark the occasion. We’re looking for writers from North East England to pitch a bold, imaginative script idea inspired by the legendary ancient Roman foodie Apicius. The winning idea will be developed into a 30-minute show, performed at Alphabetti Theatre, with a £1,500 commission, one-to-one development time with director Ed Cole, and expert guidance from chef-historian Sally Grainger. Whether you’re a first-time writer or already established, this is your chance to bring ancient flavours to life on stage.
Deadline: 6pm, Friday 13 February 2026.
Download the Cooking with Apicius Brief
Download the Cooking with Apicius Cover Sheet
Send entries to classicsfest@litandphil.org.uk or by post to the Lit & Phil, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1SE
To find out more about this year’s Roman-inspired challenge, see Dave Whetstone’s article in Cultured North East.
Photo: Laura Burdon and Sarah Bond crowned winners of the ClassicsFest 2025 writing competition. Photo by Jason Thompson
ClassicsFest 2025 highlights-
Cicero, politics & live performance
As we look forward to ClassicsFest 2026, this video looks back at ClassicsFest 2025: Why Cicero Matters. The 2025 festival (15–17 May) explored the ideas of Roman writer and speaker Cicero, with talks, performances, live readings, and interactive events. Highlights included a new modern version of one of the most notorious trials in Cicero’s career, written by Kirsten Luckins, readings from Imperium, discussions about politics, democracy, power, and social media, plus the ClassicsFest Competition Finale at Alphabetti Theatre.
ClassicsFest 2025 showed how the ancient world can still inspire and connect with people today.