Newport’s Riverfront Theatre & Arts Centre re-opens on 2nd August to welcome back families and audiences to workshops and live performances.
After being closed for almost 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the theatre will once again be opening its doors with a programme of activities for people of all ages to enjoy this summer.
Free Festival Activities With Splashtonbury
The Riverfront will be hosting workshops for young people including a Welsh and English language Youth Theatre Mini-School and weekly Minecraft camps to keep children entertained during the school holidays. The theatre will also be introducing cinema screenings later in the summer.
Whilst the theatre’s community arts festival, Big Splash, won’t be returning this year, audiences and families can look forward to attending Splashtonbury; free festival activities taking place at The Riverfront throughout August including live outdoor theatre, craft activities, music on the terrace and family discos.
The theatre also has a season of performances planned for the Autumn which will include live music, dance, theatre, comedy and more taking place on the venue’s two stages for the first time in almost 18 months. The season is due to launch mid-August with tickets for the first autumn events going on sale then.

Riverfront Theatre Supporting Local Artists
Whilst The Riverfront has been closed the theatre team have been working incredibly hard to support communities across the city including providing local artists with access to performance and rehearsal spaces and filming equipment, hosting Gwent Coroner Service and sharing artistic packs and materials to people who were isolating across Newport as part of their Share the Love campaign. Thanks to support from the Arts Council of Wales, the theatre’s foyer and café have undergone a transformation and customers can enjoy the new café area from 2nd August.
Steve Ward, Chief Executive for the charity Newport Live who run The Riverfront theatre said “Having had to close it’s doors for over a year, it is so exciting to be able to re-open The Riverfront. Thanks to support from Newport City Council and Arts Council Wales during our closure, we have worked hard to support the local community and artists and now look forward to welcoming everyone back through our doors. We have some fantastic summer activity planned with workshops and live events for our audiences to get involved in and we can’t wait to get back to inspiring people to get creative with us again.”
- Further information about the reopening of The Riverfront and how to book summer events can be found at www.newportlive.co.uk/RiverfrontReopening