Our top picks for the 2025 Newcastle Writers Fest

The Newcastle Writers Festival is back, and it’s one of our favorite times of the year! With an incredible lineup of speakers and events, this highly anticipated festival promises to be bigger and better than ever. Don’t miss out on the exciting literary celebration coming to Newcastle from April 4 – 6 2025!

Swell stockist Hey Jude Love Pete celebrates four years in business

We love our local stockists and we love to see a small business thrive! The wonderfully eclectic Hunter Street Newcastle boutique fashion store Hey Jude Love Pete is celebrating four years in business this week and we thought this was worth celebrating. We chat to owner Emily about all things bricks and mortar, bucking against the trends and bringing joy and colour to the local community!

What we’re reading, watching and listening to over the holidays

If you’re anything like us, you probably feel like you’re crawling your way to the finish line of 2024. The days are getting hotter, the party invites are plentiful and it feels like every second day the kids require money for something at school. We’ll all be taking a few much-needed weeks off soon, and are looking forward to some extra reading, watching and listening time. Here’s what we’ll be consuming over the holidays (along with plenty of good food and wine, no doubt).

Making the call

Life’s full of tricky decisions, like where to send your kids to school, whether you should quit your job and which flavour to choose at the ice-cream shop (why must they all be so delicious?!). Here’s how to tackle them.

Tinonee Vineyard Estate

Nestled at the foothill of the Broken Back Range in the NSW Hunter Valley lies Tinonee Vineyard Estate, a unique luxury accommodation offering cellar door and boutique vineyard. Whether you’re a wine lover or simply looking for a one-of-a-kind destination for your next special milestone, a visit to Tinonee Vineyard Estate (no matter how long you stay) will leave you feeling a million miles away.

Full circle

It was a love of fashion, though not necessarily the fashion industry, that drove Emma Hartley to open vintage and pre-loved clothing store The Conscious Exchange. With sustainability at the centre of the business, Emma chats to Swell about creating a circular clothing economy and educating consumers about purchasing more ethically.

A (nordic) true north

It was an ‘adult gap year’ that sparked Libby Helinski’s love of all things Nordic. After spending a year living in Sweden, in a small town right on the Arctic Circle, she returned home to Newcastle brimming with ideas – and Pappa Sven was born.

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