A GIANT yellow swing set up in the heart of Newcastle is captivating passersby and reminding them to "play".
It's part of the New Annual festival, which is reaching new heights this weekend with the grand finale.
The nine-metre-tall version of a traditional playground swing, aptly titled 'SWING', is free, accessible and open to the public in Wheeler Place from Friday to Sunday.
Artwork creator Ian Pidd said everybody loved the swing.
"Really, you know, it's a swing," he said.
"But it's a swing in public, it's a swing about making people late for work, trying to make people have longer lunchtimes, trying to make people stop shopping and hang around and it's about adults, kids too, playing in public, which we don't do enough of."
Pidd was inspired by his love of bustling fairgrounds.
"I've always wanted to make a playground that's a human-powered playground, and this is the start," he said.
"People really love it, obviously ... there's a reason why there are swings in every playground.
"They love it even more than they think they're going to love it."
Newcastle is the first city outside Melbourne to welcome the SWING experience, and Pidd is confident lots of people will want to have a go.
"Everybody stops and wants to talk about it, so everyone will come," he said.
Even he isn't sick of it yet.
"Every single day, if it's up, I'm swinging on it. If it was yours, you'd swing on it every day too," he said.
Senior creator and producer for New Annual festival Adrian Burnett said the giant swing was wheelchair accessible and open to anyone over the age of 10.
"That for me symbolises the beauty of a festival like this, there's something for everyone," he said.
"I had a go on it, it's incredible, it's a very simple, beautiful concept."
Wheeler Place will also be home this weekend to a collaborative sculpture created by participants at the Morphology workshops during this year's festival.
The Global Gathering event, celebrating diverse traditions, foods, art forms and culture, will be held at Museum Park on Saturday.
Burnett said the festival had been "awesome" since launching last weekend.
The full program of events can be found on the New Annual website.
