What’s on in February? Here’s the month’s top events in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & The Hunter specially selected for families. There is a mix of ticketed and free events for parents, grandparents and carers to enjoy some family fun.
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Out of Sight Out of Mind Exhibition
Ocean-loving families will enjoy the current exhibition, Out of Sight Out of Mind by Underwater Earth, on display at Murrook Culture Centre in Williamtown. As soon as you step foot inside the exhibition, you’ll be transported under the waves and taken on a journey through Australia’s stunning underwater eco systems by way of prints, panoramas and 360 degree film captured by ocean filmmaker Christophe Bailhache.
Date: Until 28 February
Location: Murrook Culture Centre, Williamtown
Age Group: All ages but kids 10+ will get the most from it
Cost: Free
Website
Friday Chill
Enjoy Friday Chill. On Friday nights through summer, Soul Hub engages local artists to perform chilled out tunes in a family-friendly setting. Food trucks and kids’ performers/activities add to the festival environment. Soul Hub would like to invite their friends and community to come along and join them for a picnic in the park! BYO picnic food and beverages or take advantage of the gourmet food served by a selection of local food vendors.
Date: February 7, 14, 21 & 28
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Location: Pacific Park, Newcastle East
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free entry
Website
Music in the Podium
Music in the Podium returns to Warners Bay Foreshore. The program, hosted by Lake Macquarie City Council will feature popular local musicians every Friday evening.
Date: February 7, 14, 21 & 28
Time: 6 – 9pm
Location: Warners Bay Foreshore
Age Group: All ages welcome
Cost: Free
Website
Hunter Valley Airshow
Visit the Hunter Valley Airshow and experience a blockbuster weekend of full-throttle family entertainment. There’ll be breath-taking aerobatics and live stunts, some of the rarest and most iconic warbirds in the world, amusement rides, markets, award-winning local craft beer and Hunter Valley wine, stacks of delicious street food and so much more. This is one of the biggest weekends on the Hunter Valley event calendar.
Date: Saturday 8 February & Sunday 9 February 2025
Time: 9am – 5pm
Location: Cessnock Airport, Pokolbin
Age Group: All ages
Cost: 1-Day Ticket $30 ($35 at gate) Kids 6-17, $60 ($65 at gate) 18+
Website
Girls Day Out Women in Sport – Newcastle
The Girls Day Out Women in Sport Our 45-minute mini-clinics offer young girls a high-energy introduction to local sports, featuring instruction from professional athletes and coaching staff. These dynamic sessions provide hands-on skill development, followed by Q&A sessions where athletes share their journeys and inspire young minds.
Date: Saturday 8 February 2025
Time: From 9am
Location: Foreshore Park, Newcastle
Age Group: 5-16 years
Cost: $5 per sport, registrations required
Website
ART PLAY at MAP Mima
Art Play offers an awesome art program that are free and available for everyone! A space where everyone in your family can be creative and have fun, no matter what your background or level of experience is. If you’re a young family, check out MAP mima! They have a cool exhibition and art project that’s perfect for you! They’ll give you a quick tour at 10am and introduce a different art activity each month.
Date: Sunday 9 February 2025
Time: 10 – 11.30am
Location: Multi Arts Pavilion (MAP) mima, Speers Point
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free
Website
Dullboy’s Carnival – Rutherford
Roll up, roll up to the Dullboy’s Carnival! It’s a delightful day filled with circus performers, jumping castles, free face-painting and delectable carnival snacks! Plus $13pp games of bowling or mini golf (bookings recommended). A fun day out for the whole fam!
Date: Sunday 9 February 2025
Time: 11am – 4pm
Location: Dullboy’s Rutherford
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free entry, $13pp games of bowling or mini golf (bookings recommended)
Website
Romeo & Juliet – Lake Macquarie Arts
Spoil yourself this Valentine’s Day with acclaimed production of Romeo & Juliet performed by professional theatre troupe Come you Spirits.
Date: Friday 14 February 2025
Time: 7.30 – 9.30pm
Location: Rathmines Theatre
Age Group: All ages
Cost: General Admission $40
Website
Maitland Show & Rodeo
The 163rd Maitland Show will be held on Friday 14, Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 February 2025. Get along to see art, cattle, cooking, dogs, donkeys, goats, handicraft, honey, horses, horticulture, flora & produce, photography, poultry, rodeo, scarecrow, woodchopping and woodwork. There’ll be lots of live entertainment, attractions and educational activities for the whole family.
Date: Friday 14 February – Sunday 16 February 2025
Time: Fri 9am – 10pm, Sat 9am – 10pm, Sun 9am -3pm
Location: Maitland Showground
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Refer to website
Website
Minmi Hotel Pig Races Charity Day
For a unique and entertaining day out, get together with family and friends and enjoy the annual Minmi Hotel Pig Races, supporting the charity Beyond Blue. Besides the pig races, past events have included raffles, a mechanical bull, petting zoo, face painting, sausage sizzle, live music and more.
Date: Saturday 15 February 2025
Time: From 12pm
Location: Minmi Hotel
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free entry
Website
First Class 24
The Museum of Art and Culture, yapang proudly presents First Class 24, continuing its tradition of showcasing and celebrating the creative achievements of students from the previous year’s HSC Visual Arts cohort. This respected and esteemed exhibition celebrates the voices of these young adults, offering a platform that recognises, respects, and encourages their creative expression.
Date: Runs from Saturday 15 February – Sunday 6 April 2025
Time: 9 – 3pm
Location: Museum of Art and Culture (MAC) yapang, Lake Macquarie
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free entry
Website
Krav Maga Community Open Day
Join Krav Maga Newcastle for a Community Open Day where kids and parents alike can experience this dynamic self-defence system in a safe and supportive environment! Our Open Day is designed for families, whether your child is new to martial arts or already active in sports. Expect an engaging session filled with: Live Demonstrations, Interactive Workshops, Q&A Sessions, Meet the Community sessions.
Date: Sunday 16 February 2025
Time: 9 – 12:15pm with specific sessions for different ages.
Location: 3/81 Fletcher Street, Adamstown
Age Group: ages 5+ and adults
Cost: Free
Website
Bangarra Dance Theatre – The Light Inside
Some call it a feeling, some call it the mother spirit. It’s the place where sea meets sky, the horizon we all look to, the compass that guides us home. In Bangarra’s first mainstage cross-cultural collaboration, leading Māori choreographer and Arts Laureate Moss Te Ururangi Patterson joins beloved Bangarra alumna Deborah Brown. Together they guide Bangarra’s award-winning ensemble in stories that honour their mother countries and the spirit that calls them home.
Date: Thursday 20 February & Friday 21 February 2025
Time: 7.30pm
Location: Civic Theatre
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Standard tickets $70
Website
Newcastle Toy Library 50th Birthday Celebration
The Newcastle Toy Library will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in February, and to mark the special milestone they will be holding a 50th birthday party to celebrate with their members and the local community. There will be face painting, play stations set up for the kids, birthday cake and more.
Date: Saturday 22 February, 2025
Time: 9.30 – 11.30am
Location: Car park next to the Toy Library, New Lambton
Age Group: All ages
Cost: FREE
Website
Girls Day Out Women in Sport – Muswellbrook
The Girls Day Out Women in Sport Our 45-minute mini-clinics offer young girls a high-energy introduction to local sports, featuring instruction from professional athletes and coaching staff. These dynamic sessions provide hands-on skill development, followed by Q&A sessions where athletes share their journeys and inspire young minds.
Date: Saturday 22 February 2025
Time: TBA
Location: TBA
Age Group: 5 – 16 years
Cost: $5 per sport, registrations required
Website
The Place Trivia and Cosplay Event
Don your favourite costume and get ready to test your trivia knowledge at The Place Charlestown’s Trivia and Cosplay Event! A free, family-friendly event there’ll be music, food, prizes and more. Registrations required.
Date: Saturday 22 February 2025
Time: 4.30 – 6.30pm
Location: The Place, Charlestown Community Centre
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free entry
Website
Maitland Roller Disco
Roll into a night of music, food and fun at the Maitland Roller Disco. Groove to live DJ tunes, enjoy tasty treats from food trucks, BYO skates (limited skates available for hire). No bookings required – just bring your skates, your energy and your best moves!
Date: Saturday 22 February 2025
Time: 5 – 9.30pm
Location: Harold Gregson Reserve
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free
Website
Dullboy’s Carnival – Warners Bay
Roll up, roll up to the Dullboy’s Carnival! It’s a delightful day filled with circus performers, jumping castles, free face-painting and delectable carnival snacks! Plus $13pp games of bowling or mini golf (bookings recommended). A fun day out for the whole fam!
Date: Sunday 23 February 2025
Time: 11am – 4pm
Location: Dullboy’s Warners Bay
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Free entry, $13pp games of bowling or mini golf (bookings recommended)
Website
Edgeworth Trains
Ride on a miniature train. Lake Macquarie Live Steam Locomotive Society hosts monthly public ride days. There’s a variety of miniature trains such as steam and diesel and different rail routes (both elevated and ground-level) so you can easily spend a couple of hours watching and riding trains. Their public ride days run on the last Sunday of each month excluding December.
Date: Sunday 23 February 2025
Time: Trains running from 12:30pm till 3:30pm (weather permitting). The park is open from around 9:30am.
Location: Velinda Street, Edgeworth
Age Group: All ages
Cost: It costs $2.50 per train ride. Children under 2 years old are free.
Website
Cosentino – Decennium ‘The Greatest Hits Tour’
Australia’s world-renowned entertainer and International Magician of the Year, Cosentino, is returning to perform his brand new live show ‘Decennium‘. This greatest hits production will be one of the must see shows of 2025!
Date: Sunday 23 February 2025
Time: 6pm
Location: Civic Theatre
Age Group: 5+
Cost: Adult $98.65, Child (5-16) $80.45
Website
Newcastle Show
The Newcastle Show is the Hunter’s largest annual ticketed event, happening across three days. The theme of this year’s Newcastle Show is ‘Unleashing Extraordinary’. Expect music, fireworks and events and activities for the whole family including carnival games, rides, petting zoo, equestrian events, showbags and much, much more!
Date: Friday 28 February – Sunday 2 March 2025
Time: Fri & Sat 9 – 10pm, Sunday 9 – 5pm
Location: Newcastle Showground
Age Group: All ages
Cost: Tickets from $15 (child 5-17, concession), $25 (adults 17+), FREE (Under 4), Family passes available
Website
Twitcher Exhibition – Maitland
Join in and celebrate the natural world with an exhibition dedicated to art and birds. Bringing together contemporary artists from across Australia who feature birds in many forms across their work. Twitcher will delight everyone as you pop on the binoculars and go all in for a Summer season of creative birdwatching.
Date: Runs until 2 March 2025
Time: Tuesday to Sunday 9am – 4pm. Closed Public Holidays.
Location: Maitland Regional Art Gallery
Age Group: All ages welcome
Cost: Free
Website
Dinosaurs: Surviving Extinction
Step into a world where ancient giants roamed and uncover how some dinosaurs evolved, survived extinction, and became the birds we see today. Through captivating displays, artworks, and interactive exhibits, this exhibition reveals the fascinating connection between dinosaurs and their avian descendants.
Date: Runs until 2 March 2025
Time: Tuesday to Sunday 10am – 5pm and seven days during New South Wales School Holidays
Location: Newcastle Museum
Age Group: 3+
Cost: Adults $15, kids 5 to 14 $7.50. Family ticket $40 (2A + 2C)
Website
What’s On Next Month?
Looking for more events in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & Hunter? Check out our What’s On Guide with information about events all year long. The guide provides a list of local family-friendly events organised by month.