Here’s just some of the cultural highlights of a busy year after the city got back to business following the pandemic.
1. January, stable block regeneration, Sheepfolds
The year got off to a flying start with the announcement of a £2million plan to transform the old stable block in Sheepfolds Industrial Estate into a leisure hot spot with food traders and more. Building work is fast gathering pace and three tenants have already been announced, including Zinc from the team behind Newcastle's Route, a food venture from Hairy Biker Si King and coffee shop and lifestyle store called RESINN. Photo: Stu Norton
2. Fire Station Auditorium opening season
Sunderland's new Fire Station Auditorium enjoyed its opening season, bringing a host of talented and varied acts to Sunderland as part of the city's ongoing cultural renaissance. It completed the £18m transformation of the old Edwardian fire station off High Street West which had stood empty for two decades. Photo: Stu Norton
3. Opening of 1719, March
A building which has stood in the heart of old Sunderland for 300 years entered a new chapter after a major £5million restoration project. It was a long road navigating a pandemic, Brexit and the subsequent difficulty in obtaining building materials, but finally the old Holy Trinity Church in the East End was reborn as Seventeen Nineteen, a new events space for Sunderland. Named after the year the port’s first parish church opened its doors, the building was once the heart of old Sunderland, housing the old town’s council chamber and its first library, making it one of the city’s most historically-significant buildings. Photo: Stu Norton
4. Grayson Perry exhibition, April
The Vanity of Small Differences exhibition by Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry returned to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens in April. The exhibition featured six large-scale tapestries in total, with two inspired by the artist’s time in the city during which he visited Heppies Social Club in North Hylton Road, pigeon crees, met with cage fighters and more. Photo: Stu Norton