Eight independent coffee shops will stage the festival, promising all things coffee as well as events in businesses across the area
An entrepreneur has launched Tyneside's first coffee festival in a bid to boost independent business.
Joe Meagher, founder and director of Flat Caps Coffee, has brought together eight independent coffee shops to create the inaugural Newcastle Gateshead Coffee Festival, a three day event designed to showcase what the area's small business community has to offer.
Rather than holding the event under one roof, Mr Meagher and those taking part have made the city itself the festival location, with small businesses joining in scross Newcastle and Gateshead.
Mr Meagher, who runs Flat Caps Coffee in Carliol Square: "I was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and there was a coffee shop there struggling becuase it was so busy, so when I had a day off I went up and helped out for the day andf it was great. We were servign celebrities and there were qeues out the door all day.
"Then I came back to Newcastle and it seemed so quiet. Summer is traditionally a quiet time, and businesses of all kinds struggle, when people are away on holiday or not going out, and hours are oftern cut.
"I tweeted about all of this and people said how it would be great to have some kind of event, but we needed someone to oull it all together.
"We wanted to showcase what Newcastle has to offer not only in the coffee world but with all of our independent businesses and the community within them.
"Having been to many coffee festivals over the years I was determined to offer something a bit different.
"Traditionally coffee festivals are held in one venue full of coffee stands showcasing what they have to offer, but that doesn't really offer anything for people who are not in the coffee trade.
"What I decided was that instead of a warehouse or arena Newcastle's coffee festival location would be the city itself and could you pick a better setting?"
The independent coffee shops have come together and are putting on a festival split into two parts, the first being a "disloyalty card" which the customer buys for £15 and can get a free coffee in each of the eight particiapting coffee shops.
The businesses taking part are Arch Sixteen in Gateshead, BLK in Heaton, OCC in Jesmond and Hatch, Flat Caps, Pink Lane, Pumphreys and Laneway all in Newcastle city centre.
The card is valid for the whole of June giving customers the chance to visit each shop and find out what they're all doing for part two of the festival, which sees three days of events taking place at each of the venues, running from tomorrow, Wednesday, June 28.
Events, listed on the website www.newcastlecoffeefestival.com, include a photo competition run by Hatch Coffee, yoga sessions at Flat Caps Coffee, the chance to visit Ringtons to try out their coffee gadgets, a roastery tour at Pumphreys and the screening A Film About Coffee at Arch 16, planned in conjuction with neighbouring small business Block & Bottle.
Mr Meagher said: "this is promising to be a huge success and we hope it grows each year to encompass more and more of what Newcastle has to offer.
"We'll have people discovering yoga classes and wine tasting at the same time as getting to see all the other coffee places in Newcastle and surrounding areas, and all the little businesses close by.
"I've got a 10 year plan and, in time, I think the coffee part of the festival will drop off and it will be a festival of everything. We are already putting the wheels in motion for next year and we hope it will be more of a coffee and culture festival, so we can involve anyone in culture in Newcastle.
"I don't want this to be a clique little thing - I want everyone to get involved, have fun, have some coffee and enjoy themselves, and if businesses do well and get busier that's great. It's a win-win for everyone."
Money raised from the sale of the disloyalty cards will be split between two charities; Newcastle Carers and the international chicchi di Caffe and £1,000 has been raised so far.