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On Friday night, something really very important is happening in Northumberland. It's not a major exhibition. It's not Sam Fender at St James' Park.
But a room full of people who, in very real ways, hold their communities together.
MagNorth will be at the inaugural Tácnbora Awards at Ad Gefrin Anglo-Saxon Museum and Whisky Distillery - a new event that feels less like a ceremony, and more like a statement about what (and who) we choose to celebrate.
“Tácnbora” is an Old English word meaning standard bearer - someone who carries the flag, leads the way, sets the tone. It's not celebrities. not figureheads. It's our people. People who show up.
Since October, the Tácnbora Tour - led by Ad Gefrin in partnership with Destination North East England - has been travelling across the region, meeting individuals and groups who are doing exactly that: building connection, sustaining community, and creating culture from the ground up.
The result is a list of 19 finalists - from choirs and community centres to volunteers and organisers - each with their own story, but a shared sense of purpose.
The North East has never been short on creativity. But the kind of work being recognised here often sits outside the usual cultural spotlight.
From groups like Phoenix Choir, Elswick Community Pool and Gym and the High Spen Gems Rapper Sword Dancers, to individuals including Lorna Silverston, Claire Knowles and Sam Gilchrist, the finalists reflect a wide ecology of grassroots cultural life.
Lunch clubs. Community gyms. Choirs. Dance groups. Local initiatives that don’t always fit neatly into funding frameworks or national narratives - but are, in many ways, the bedrock of our everyday life.
Projects which don’t just “engage audiences”. They are the audience. The organisers. The participants. The reason things happen at all.
There’s a growing conversation across the UK about cultural value - who defines it, who funds it, and who benefits from it. But often, that conversation still centres institutions.
What the Tácnbora Awards do - quietly but clearly - is shift the focus. And shift it not upwards, but outwards.
Towards the people who are already doing the work, without necessarily being recognised as part of “the sector”.
And in doing so, it asks a useful question: What would cultural policy look like if it started here?
The awards take place on 20 March, coinciding with both the third anniversary of Ad Gefrin and St Cuthbert’s Day - a detail that feels fitting, given the emphasis on place, heritage and community.
Expect performances from finalists including Phoenix Choir and the High Spen Gems Rapper Sword Dancers - a reminder that this isn’t just about recognition, but expression.
But beyond the programme, it’s the gathering itself that matters.
A moment to bring together people from across Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and beyond - not as audiences, but as contributors to a shared cultural life.
MagNorth will be in Wooler on Friday night, listening, watching, and meeting the people behind the stories.
Because if there’s one thing this project makes clear, it’s this:
Culture doesn’t start in institutions.
It starts with people - and the places they care about enough to show up for.
