Newcastle turns 32 this month, and the city is marking its birthday the way it always does: with a full day of pickleball, classic cars, and community booths at Lake Boren Park that stretches from an 8 a.m. tournament tip-off into an evening of food trucks and live music. The 2026 edition of Newcastle Days lands on Saturday, September 19, and this year's finale features a Taylor Swift tribute band closing out the night on the main stage.
The city holds Newcastle Days annually at Lake Boren Park specifically to mark the anniversary of its official incorporation as a city in September 1994, according to the City of Newcastle. The 2026 schedule kicks off early with the 5th Annual Jim Price Memorial Pickleball Tournament, a free double-elimination event across intermediate and advanced divisions at the park's sports courts starting at 8 a.m. Those same courts reopened last year after resurfacing delays, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the courts' 2025 reopening.
Once the paddles are put away, the Cars on the Green Auto Show takes over the park's central green from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., showcasing classic, muscle, and custom vehicles. Judging wraps up at 1:30 p.m., with a main stage awards presentation following at 2:30 p.m., per the city's event listing.
A Bagpipe-Led Parade Opens the Main Festivities
Official opening ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. with a mini parade circling Lake Boren Park, led by local bagpiper Neil Hubbard and followed by area Scouts, local performers, and school groups marching toward the main stage, according to a blog post from Andrew M. Wenzl. That post frames Newcastle Days as essentially two festivals in one, split around the 3 p.m. mark between the sports-and-parade-heavy morning and an evening built around food and music.
The evening lineup includes food trucks and friendship-bracelet making, according to the seed story shared by the City of Newcastle, Washington on Facebook. That same post confirms the night's headliner: 13 Til Midnight, a Taylor Swift tribute band, is set to perform Swift's greatest hits, deep cuts, and fan favorites on the main stage from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Taylor Swift Tribute Act Brings Regional Touring Chops
13 Til Midnight is a Pacific Northwest ensemble with an active regional touring schedule, having previously headlined Oregon's Headliners Club in February 2026 and the Orcas Center in December 2025, according to the Islands' Sounder. The band performs across all of Swift's album eras rather than sticking to a single period of her catalog.
This year's evening entertainment is sponsored by Musicologie Renton, a resident-owned music school located in Renton's Kennydale neighborhood off NE 44th St. The studio opened as the franchise's first West Coast location under local owners Eddie and Favi Iglesias, according to information posted by Musicologie itself.
Lake Boren Park's Coal Mining Past and Civic Present
Lake Boren Park spans roughly 18 to 20 acres as Newcastle's primary municipal park, and the lake at its center has shrunk considerably over the past century. Lake Boren decreased from a recorded depth of 90 feet in 1883 to 34 feet today, largely due to sediment runoff from China Creek, which was named for 19th-century Chinese coal miners who once worked in the area, Hoodline reported in its earlier coverage of the park's summer concert series finale.
Newcastle has grown considerably since its 1994 incorporation, reaching an estimated population of about 13,000 residents with a median household income of $160,278, according to World Population Review figures cited in that same report. The city's Community Activities Commission managed vendor booth applications for this year's festival, with a submission deadline of July 24, giving local businesses and groups a chance to set up alongside the food trucks and craft beer garden.
Newcastle Days also functions as the closing chapter of the city's outdoor event calendar at Lake Boren Park each year, following the July 4th Fireworks on the Lake celebration and a four-week Concerts in the Park summer series. Together, the programming underscores how central the park has become to civic life in a city that traces its roots to a 19th-century coal mining network but now anchors one of the Eastside's more affluent communities. Full event details are available at newcastlewa.gov/newcastledays.
