Events in Hartlepool From 13th April – 19th April 2026

You can find a thoughtful mix of events in Hartlepool this week, offering moments that stretch from quiet reflection to lively gatherings across community hubs. Live music takes place at Headland Baptist Church, where an evening dedicated to The Somme includes readings and personal recollections on Sunday 18 April, part of a broader programme marking the centenary of wartime remembrance in local venues since 2016. Intimate performances continue throughout the week at other town spaces such as West Hartlepool Library’s Community Room, where folk artists present acoustic sets under an ongoing Arts Council-funded initiative supporting regional musicians.

Spoken word events include a midweek session focused on personal testimony from former railway workers who contributed to post-war reconstruction. These gatherings occur in informal settings, such as at St John's Hall or along Westgate Street’s open-air café areas during weekends, and reflect the town’s longstanding tradition of civic storytelling through oral history, dating back to formal recordings made by local historians between 1980 and 2005.

Family-friendly comedy features a tricks-and-giggles show hosted at ARC Stockton Arts Centre on Saturday afternoon (18 April), designed for mixed-age attendance. The event is part of an initiative that brings interactive performances into green spaces, including footpaths around St Nicholas Park near South Pier. Evening storytelling continues with reenactments, such as a dramatisation of early 20th-century dockside life held at Old Hartlepool Town Hall on Thursday evening.

Local artists present work influenced by industrial heritage and maritime memory in pop-up exhibitions across public buildings including Westgate Library, where installations feature reclaimed ironwork from former shipyards. The railway’s historical role is echoed through an interpretive display installed near Hartlepool railway station (Tees Valley Line), linking past infrastructure with current transport use.

Check listings below for exact times and venue details.