Plan your attendance

On this page you can find…

Venue

The conference will take place at the Frederick Douglass Centre on the Newcastle Helix campus. Activities will take place in the following spaces:

The Helix campus is easily accessed from St James’ metro station and is ~15 minutes’ walk from Newcastle Central Station. A full campus map with transport links can be found here.

The area around the Frederick Douglass Centre is pedestrianised; some unreserved accessible parking is available, as well as paid parking at the Garage (NE4 5QB) and around St James’ Park football stadium.

COVID mitigation at the conference

We are aware that COVID-19 remains a risk, and not only for the most vulnerable. The Frederick Douglass Centre is a new building (2019) with up to date ventilation in all lecture theatres and teaching spaces; there is also space to spend time outside during breaks. We welcome mask wearing and will have some masks available at the front desk should you choose to wear one. Hand gel will also be available at the front desk.

We also encourage delegates to report illness if they experience it and to stay away from the conference in the event that they experience COVID-like symptoms.

However, we remind delegates that no testing regime is in place in the UK at the moment and we cannot require delegates to test and/or report symptoms. Please also be advised that the social event will also feature close contact with other people, as many ceilidh dances involve holding hands or linking arms with other dancers.

Social Event

We will be hosting a dinner and ceilidh at the fabulous Wylam Brewery on the evening of Weds 10th July.

Wylam Brewery…we hope for equally nice skies in July!

The incredible Drop Spindle Ceilidh Band will be playing for us from 8pm – graduates of Newcastle University, they now fill the dancefloors of the North East with a mix of traditional and innovative songs and dances.

Drop Spindle Ceilidh Band - three white musicians having a whale of a time
Drop Spindle Ceilidh Band

Tickets for the event are priced at £65 (dinner, 2 drinks, ceilidh and transport* from the conference venue included); tickets for delegates are available through the Webstore when you register. The menu choices are as follows:

STARTER
Whipped Feta, Roasted Beets, Pickled Figs, Chicory V
Roast Squash Soup with Sage & Chestnuts V VE
Gluten Free & Nut Free Available 

MAINS
Roast Cornfed Chicken Breast, Potato Terrine, Green Beans, Carrot Purée
Potato Gnocchi, Wild Mushrooms, Kale, Brown Butter V
Vegan & Gluten Free Available 

DESSERTS
Salted Caramel Tart, Chocolate Ice Cream
VEGAN OPTION: Chocolate Brownie, Poached Cherry, Vanilla Ice Cream GF VE Only

*Wylam Brewery is next to the main Newcastle University campus, so is walkable from the conference venue and the city centre if you fancy a 20-25 walk, taking in Victorian Exhibition Park.

Accommodation in Newcastle

We have partnered with the Newcastle Gateshead Convention Bureau to offer some reduced accommodation through this link. We recommend booking as soon as possible as there are a number of other conferences happening in Newcastle that week.

The convention bureau also have a handy food and drink finder on their website, and have these offers available for conference delegates to redeem.

Pop-up Mentoring

If you would like to mentor or be mentored through our Pop-up Mentoring programme, you can sign up via the registration form or through the links below:

If you’d like to know more, take a look at the Pop Up Mentoring page.

Registration

Registration is now open – please register through our Newcastle webstore.

Early bird conference ticket prices have been kept constant with CLS 2019. Ticket options include:

  • Standard Early Bird (full conference): £240
  • Student Early Bird (full conference): £185
  • Standard (full conference): £280
  • Student (full conference): £195
  • Day tickets: £100.

Please note that to benefit from early bird prices, please register by 24th May 7th June (23:59 British Summer Time).

Registration will close one week before the conference (2nd July). Late registration is possible at £400 (Standard) or £300 (Student).

Student fee waivers

We are pleased to announce that we can cover or reimburse Early Bird registration costs for two student attendees thanks to the kind support of the Linguistic Association of Great Britain. If you are interested in applying, please email cls2024@ncl.ac.uk by 29th April and let us know your level of study and whether you have access to any other funding (100 words maximum).

We have now awarded both bursaries – congratulations to the successful applicants, and thanks to all applicants for their time and work.