A SPECTACULAR launch is set to kick start a cultural summer as the North-East gets ready to host the biggest event in the country.

Visitors will be able see fireworks over the River Tyne and experience a giant water sculpture from the Quayside as part of the Great Exhibition of the North.

The inaugural evening in June will bring together art, design, culture and innovation and reveal the installations that will be present throughout the 80-day exhibition in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Carol Bell, the exhibition’s executive director, said: “What visitors will see is a whole range of innovation from across the north of England.

“We are looking at celebrating great art, design and innovation.

“We have created two hub areas – one in central Newcastle and one down on the Quayside.

“We are creating three walking routes, which will explore great art, design and innovation. We are using over 30 venues and visitors will be able to explore them.

“It is not going to be in one single venue because we wanted to use Newcastle and Gateshead as one single canvas.”

Some of the highlights of the 80-day programme include: a Great Northern Soundtrack curated by broadcaster, Lauren Laverne; the return of Stephenson’s Rocket, complete with virtual reality experience; and a new solo exhibition from Turner Prize 2017 winner, Lubaina Himid.

Audiences will see the work of pop art pioneer Richard Hamilton and world-renowned sculptor Antony Gormley, as well as original character models of Postman Pat and live performances from Roisin Murphy and Kaiser Chiefs.

It is free to attend and the aim is to tell the inspiring story of the north of England and how its innovators, businesses, artists and designers have shaped the present and are inspiring the future.

Visitors will begin their journey at one of three venues, the Great North Museum, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and The Sage Gateshead before joining three interconnected trails through 30 world-class venues and public spaces on either side of the River Tyne that celebrate the north’s achievements in art and culture, design, and innovation.

Steve Mayes, the artist behind Brick This, which includes up to 50 models telling the story of the north from the industrial revolution, said: “I have been into Lego for a few years, doing architectural buildings and I thought it would be good to do something for the expo.

“The concept is a timeline of northern innovation. It is ‘what the north has done for the world’, built out of Lego.”

Organisers are expecting an audience of around 3 million with around a million people coming from outside the region.

The launch night is on June 22 and the exhibition runs until September 9, with the Great North Run forming form the centrepiece of the closing weekend.

It is estimated the exhibition, dubbed Get North, will bring a £184 million boost to the North-East regional economy.

Sarah Stewart, chief executive of the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, said: “Town and cities all over the world vie for events like this because they know they bring so many benefits.

“The short term economic benefit is one of those reasons.

“That is mainly from the increased number of visitors we are going to receive into city over the three months,

“It is the overnight visitors we talking about who will be giving the biggest boost in terms of economic impact.”

Businesses are expected to benefit in the short term include hotels, bars restaurants, venues, as well as cultural and creative organisations across the region.

Mrs Stewart said the event would also bring with it a legacy that would continue to benefit the region in the long term.

She said: “There is also the long term ripple effect and all of the companies across the north and all of the organisations who are helping to provide content for the exhibition are going to impacted as well.

“If we are going to build pride among people here in the north of England, and if we are going to change perceptions of what the north is, among a much wider audience, than that is where the real long term benefit will be.”