On foot

The Civic precinct is Festival central - all venues are in walking distance (2 or 3 city blocks) of the Festival Club, 5 Auckland Street, Newcastle.

If you are coming by train, alight at Civic Station. Come back over to the city side of the tracks and cross Hunter St.

• Wheeler Place is to your left – if you walk through here you will come to Civic Park. Darby St is across the park.

• If you walk to your right you will meet Auckland St – Festival Club and the Octapod are located here

If you are coming by coach you will be dropped at Newcastle Station – you can jump on any of the State Transit buses and travel back down Hunter St to Auckland St for FREE! [link to Free CBD Buses]

2 wheels

Newcastle is flat and the venues are pretty close together so you'll have fun ringing around the streets with the kids in your new bike gang.

Bring your own pushie. Plus helmet, lights, safety vest & chain if you do that sort of thing. And a flag. Make a pretty flag to fly off the handlebars. Then everyone in town will know you are a This Is Not Art friend!

OR

Bring your helmet, lights, safety vest & chain and get hold of a bike once you are in town. How, you ask? Join in on the FREE bike maintenance workshops we are holding on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in conjunction with Newcastle's Bike Ecology Centre. They supply almost ready to ride pre-loved ikes that need a little work, you spend an hour or so in a workshop learning what to do to fix it, and then you ride off on your own brand spanking reclaimed pushie. Or, if you just cant make a workshop, and have the cash available, you can pay a small fee and a $20 refundable deposit and you can have a bike that is ready to ride (a volunteer has salvaged it and pre-fixed it for you - the small fee is a contribution to the BEC).

Free CBD buses

Jump on Newcastle Buses (the blue and white ones) between 7.30am and 6.00pm and travel free in the CBD. So, if you are dragging your feet and it just seems too far, you could travel on the bus for one or two stops up and down Hunter St for FREE.

The Fare Free Zone is indicated by signs on the bus stops, but extends from Newcastle Station to just on the edge of Hamilton. So travel is covered from the beaches, up Darby St, right along Hunter St to the backpackers both in Hamilton and Newcastle East.

Festival Club is located on Auckland St, so ask the bus driver to make the right stop for you.