A YEAR of festivals which will put North East creativity and innovation in the national spotlight and boost the regional economy is today being announced.

An ambitious Festival of the North East will take place across the region in June 2013 as the brainchild of renowned musician and proud Northumbrian Kathryn Tickell.

Conceived as a showcase of creativity past and present, it already has the support of leading figures either from or based in the region. The Festival of the North East will immediately precede the arrival of the Lindisfarne Gospels in Durham, around which a separate programme of high profile events is being planned.

The gloriously illustrated book will be returning to the region where it was created in the 8th Century for the first time since 2001.

Also we can announce today that the British Science Festival – billed as Europe’s largest and most high profile public science event – will take place in Newcastle in September 2013.

This was described yesterday as “a real coup for Newcastle” by Prof Ella Ritchie, deputy vice-chancellor of Newcastle University.

Anthony Sargent, general director of The Sage Gateshead and director of previous major festivals in Birmingham, chairs the preliminary steering committee for the Festival of the North East.

He said the festival, together with the loan of the Gospels and the science festival, could help to make the North East immune to the effects of any post-2012 “Olympics hangover”.

Now a call has gone out to organisations for content ideas for the Festival of the North East.

Mr Sargent said the idea behind the festival was to showcase North East creativity over 1,400 years, from the time when the Lindisfarne Gospels was created on Holy Island right up to the present day.

“The Lindisfarne Gospels is an early manifestation of the creativity to be found in the North East but everywhere you look you see a flame of innovation and creativity,” he said.

“The festival is designed to represent and celebrate that incandescent flame.”

He said those approached so far in the region had responded favourably to the festival idea but he hoped it would also have an impact further afield.

“What we hope is that people will be excited to come to the region by the Gospels but will stay for a few days in the North East and see other things as well.

“There may be people who have been thinking of visiting the region and we hope to encourage them to come and maybe to come more than once.”