The New Annual Festival is well under way and a highlight is the Global Gathering Festival happening at Museum Park on Saturday.
From 1pm to 9pm the park will come alive with everything from henna tattoo art to Chinese lantern making.
The free, family-friendly event has food demonstrations, dance and music, all to celebrate the city's many residents from different cultural backgrounds.
Hosting the event is broadcaster, communicator and author Yumi Stynes.
"I started off as a music journalist; it's never about me, it's about being a conduit between the audience and the musicians," Stynes says of her craft.
Today, she'll be a conduit once again, only this time between hungry festivalgoers and food demonstrations showcasing a mix of Afghan, Sudanese and Tibetan cuisine.
Stynes is widely known for her popular ABC feminist podcast, Ladies, We Need To Talk, and she's received accolades and attention for her recent book Welcome To Sex. When she's not raising awareness about sex and feminism, Stynes is a vocal foodie and author of multiple cookbooks.
"It's a focus on people who come from other countries and settled in Newcastle, the cultural offerings and flavour they can add to Newcastle," Stynes says as to why she's hosting the event.
"I'm a person with a migrant background who loves food and loves other cultures."
She's excited to meet the performers and chefs and get the most out of people contributing so that they feel safe to talk about what they're showing people. It's her job to find humour and make sure the acts feel comfortable.
She can help translate if they're speaking too much foodie language.
"It's like musicians talking about microphone brands, no one cares," she jokes.
Stynes hopes she can bring a bit of her own experience to the occasion as well, maybe even a demo with Japanese rice balls called onigiri.
"They're like the sandwich of Japan, really common, cheap, day-to-day food," Stynes says.
"They're not particularly glamorous, but they're having a bit of a moment in Australia.
"Another thing about being the child of migrant parents, you've got a real adoration of the mother country food, reinterpreted to fit the local environment."
She believes food is one of the pillars of good health, which leads to a happier life. Before she started working in media, her last job "in the real world" was a cook in a restaurant and she just loved it.
"I think part of it was, I saw my parents stressing about work all the time," she says.
"They'd bring home their concerns and sit at the dinner table and ruminate.
"I just love cooking because it's so honest, people either love it or they don't; there's no nuance. I love that element of it."
Stynes is based in Sydney but has been making trips to Newcastle since her eldest daughter started studying at the University of Newcastle two years ago. She and a few other mums in the same boat will carpool up to Newcastle to take their "starving" student children out for a fancy lunch. It's giving Stynes a chance to check out the Newcastle restaurants, which she's been enjoying.
On Saturday she'd like to encourage anyone who wants to speak to her to come and say hello.
"I love meeting people; I'm happy to chat," she says.
You can't get much more welcoming than that!
Learn more about the Global Gathering by visiting the New Annual website.
