Zfm Information

The metropolitan area of Newcastle is the second most populous area in New South Wales, and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas. As of 30 June 2009 the population of the city of Newcastle was estimated to be 154,777. Newcastle holds a variety of cultural events and festivals. The Mattara festival, founded in 1961, is the official festival of Newcastle with a more traditional 'country fair' type program that combines a parade, rides, sporting events, band competitions and portrait and landscape painting exhibitions. The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival, first started in Newcastle in 1999. This is the film festival where film- film in 24 hours. It is run annually in July. This Is Not Art is a national festival of new media and arts held in Newcastle each year over the October long weekend. Since its humble beginnings in 1998, it has become one of the leading arts festivals. The umbrella program includes the independent festivals Electrofringe, the National Young Writers' Festival, Critical Animals, Sound Summit, Crack Theatre Festival and other projects that vary from year to year. Newcastle has an active music culture, as well as a Conservatorium of Music which is part of the University of Newcastle. It continues to support local bands and has a large underground music scene. The members of Silverchair, the highly successful Australian band, hail from Newcastle, as does the Australian band The Noted Australian artists John Olsen, Margaret Olley and William Dobell once lived in Newcastle and today the city of Newcastle is home to a wide range of public, commercial and private galleries. The Newcastle Art Gallery is home to one of Australia's most substantial public art collections outside a major capital city, and its extensive Newcastle has a variety of smaller theatres, but the main theatre in the CBD is now the Civic, at Wheeler Place, (seating capacity about 1500), one of Australia's great historic theatres built during 1929 in Art Deco style. It hosts a wide range ...