SATURDAY
Newcastle Pooch Market 10am to 2pm, 3 Cowper St Carrington. Dogs welcome, free parking at the Carrington sports ground.
Glendale Farmers & Artisan Market 7am to 1.30pm, Stockland Glendale.
Lemon Tree Passage High Tide Market 11am to 3.30pm, Henderson Park, Lemon Tree Passage.
Dog Rescue Newcastle Market 9am to 1pm, Wallsend Village.
Hunter Region Jaguar's Club All British Day 9am to 2pm, Newcastle Foreshore Park.
Barefoot Bowls for Breast Cancer 1pm, Alder Park Sports Club, New Lambton. All welcome.
The Spongebob Musical 2pm and 7pm, Young People's Theatre, Hamilton.
ASPIRE: The Cost of Wishes 7pm, Civic Theatre, Newcastle.
Maitland Tattoo 5.30pm to 10.30pm, Hunter Valley Grammar School Hall.
Australia Cup Match: Newcastle Jets vs Adelaide United 7.30pm, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle.
Friendlyjordies presents: A Tale As Old As Rome 7pm, City Hall, Newcastle.
Out Loud July for Queer and Now 6pm to midnight, The Gal, Hamilton.
Saturday Night Showcase 7pm, Newcastle Comedy Club
Newcastle Music Festival: No Violins Allowed! 7.30pm Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle.
SUNDAY
Bastille Market 10am to 3pm, The Station Newcastle. French gourmet food, artisans and homewares.
Lambton Markets on the Green 9am to 1pm, Club Lambton.
My Kids Market Newcastle 9am to noon, Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
Adamstown Lions Markets 7am to noon, cnr Brunker and Glebe roads, Adamstown.
Newcastle City Farmers Market 7am to 1pm, Newcastle Showground.
Maitland Tattoo: A Celebration 9am to 3pm, Maitland Park. Free entry.
Edgeworth Miniature Trains 12.30pm to 3.30pm, Velinda Street, Edgeworth.
National Tree Day Community Planting Various locations, go to planetark.org/site
Newcastle Music Festival: Opera Cocktails 5pm, Stanley Park (sold out). Also, Patricia Pollett in Concert 2pm, Adamstown Uniting Church (and Anna Grinberg on piano).
Newcastle People's Chorus - Open Rehearsal 11am to 12.30pm, Newcastle Museum
NRL Round 20: Newcastle Knights vs Canterbury Bulldogs 2pm, McDonald Jones Stadium, Broadmeadow.
MUSIC
Kirsty Lee Akers 8pm, Saturday, Cessnock Leagues Club. Kurri Kurri's Golden Guitar-winner and reality TV star performs songs from her latest album Wild.
Cooks & Bakers 3.30pm, Saturday, Rogue Scholar, Newcastle. The Newcastle indie-rockers are joined by local bands Butterknife and Sitting Down in a rooftop show.
Ruffians 7.15pm, Lass O'Gowrie Hotel, Wickham. The cabaret rockers formerly known as The Pits return with a new single The Other Side.
Introspect 7.30pm, Sunday, Cambridge Hotel. Here's a free gig guaranteed to deliver a head-banging dose of metal.
ART
The Owens Collective Some Recent Paintings, Chris Capper, until July 31.
Straitjacket Gallery Lydia Miller (Gallery 1) and Liam Power (Gallery 2 and Project Space. Until August 14.
Maitland Regional Art Gallery See you in the soup What happens when a small and humble duck goes on an epicurean adventure. Explore the soft, food-laden immersive installation by Soft Stories, a collaboration between Cat Rabbit and Isobel Knowles. Animation, miniature scenes and large scale soft sculpture. Until September 11.
Multi Arts Pavilion (MAP) mima Lake Macquarie An Anthology of the Wind. Lottie Consalvo and Sarah Mosca create site-specific sound, video and sculptural works. Viewing Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Until August 28.
Art Systems Wickham And So, works by Garry Jones, Ruth Kirkland and Andrew Turier. Until August 7.
Singleton Art and Cultural Centre The Art of Being Here This exhibition celebrates many years of momentary observations by visual storyteller Vivien Dwyer. Until September 25.
- Remember, events can cancel at short notice, so double check before you leave.