Right now, he's standing in front of The Hangar stage in Civic Park, just two days before his troupe's first two-hour adults-only sci-fi theatrical extraganza on that very stage. (The Intergalactical Sci-Fi Spectacular is the official title).

For him, after two decades of theatrical efforts - the last 10 years as a paid professional - the first New Annual Festival has finally given him a vote of confidence in the form of financial support that could see him leap to a new level with a show that could tour nationally within months.

"Working like this, with a big chunk of support, and commitment to support, is really great news for us," he says. "We can invest more in a concept like this."

What's on: Things to do at New Annual in Newcastle 2021

The Hangar show involves a cast and crew of nearly 30, plus more contracted suppliers for stage and sound. It is just one of more than 50 shows across various artistic and cultural categories in the New Annual - a festival featuring an eclectic array of cultural acts staged across the city over 10 days in February. It is indicative of the wager that City of Newcastle is making; fuelling creative forces that will not only put bums on seats for local shows but also grow their own businesses to the scale and professionalism so that they can tour to wider audiences.

"I'm really glad there is a Newcastle festival now," Watt says. "That's not to say there haven't been great festivals in the city before, like TiNA (This is Not Art) and Fringe (which is kind of strange, we had a fringe before we had a city festival, that's understandable). I'm really happy there is this intention and it isn't just a one-off, because that has happened a few times, where a big great thing will happen and it only happens once.

"It's really good news there is an intention to create more. It's really good news for us because we are already booked for the next one, so in a way, this is proof of concept for a full vision. And we immediately have a second iteration so people can just start working on it straight away."

Kate Britton, the City of Newcastle's project manager for New Annual, has been the head wrangler. While the festival has been a collaborative effort with programming staff across the city's cultural institutions (Britton's description), she's been a key part of the activation with an eye on the broader vision (my words).

"I am really excited to see the bigger local company commissions - The Taylor's Run/Curious Legends, Catapult, to come to fruition," she says to me in an interview in January after the program was rolled out. "It's been a journey to get them to this point. These projects were critical to their survival.

"When we began developing them, we thought 'what are we doing locally that we can take to the next level' ... That will be quite breathtaking."

Ken Longworth: Hanging out for the New Annual Festival in Newcastle

The first New Annual festival was due to launch in September 2020, but the pandemic and restrictions on crowd sizes forced a rethink. Now, all systems are go for the first one, running now, February 12-21.

But the plan was always to think long-term and plans are well underway for the second New Annual in September-October this year and the third one in that same time slot in 2022.

"I think there is a lot of potential to develop relationships with artists and creatives locally and nationally," Britton says.

"To reach the growth and ambitions we have, you need to planning further out. You need to plan 12 to 24 months out to engage in conversations about what is coming ..."

Curious Legends theatre company is producing a site-specific large scale puppetry performance at the festival. Titled Taylor's Run, it features a crafted musical score and illuminated puppets in a show about trash and friendship - yes, it's being held at the Summerhill Waste Management Centre.

Mitchell Reese, artistic director of Curious Legends, moved his theatre company from Melbourne to Newcastle in 2011.

"We wanted to try Newcastle for the arts community," he says. "Since moving here, we've grown by leaps and bounds. The bulk of our work is large scale interactive theatre."

Talk about going against trend - Melbourne has long been the destination of choice for promising artists from Newcastle.

"My wife and I thought we could spend the next 20 years here," Reese says. "We'd always liked the look of Newcastle. We heard there was a burgeoning arts scene. It's been a great place to raise a family."

New Annual: Chalk the Walk street art coming to Newcastle

Curious Legends has two full-time staff, and works with eight artists, and a staff of 20 to 30 for major productions. Until the last year, the bulk of their work was outside of Newcastle, with a track record of shows in places such as Indonesia and Germany.

The Taylor's Run show commission - the venue-concept of which, Kate Britton presented to Reese - has been a huge boost during the pandemic.

"I'm amazed and incredibly grateful," Reese says. "We had chat with Kate, and were contracted to produce the Summerhill project [show]. COVID smashed us. Ninety per cent of our work disappeared overnight. Council honoured the contract. They wanted to support us."

The Taylor's Run show is scheduled to tour nationally and internationally in 2022.

Curious Legends is now fielding calls from around the country from people who want to work and collaborate with them.

Children's book author Jess Black, of Newcastle, is launching her latest book series, Pepper Creek Ponies, with the book's illustrator Serena Geddes on Saturday, February 13, at Hudson St Hum in Hamilton, as part of the festival. While the timing is coincidental, the significance of the festival is not lost on her.

"It's fantastic that it's all of the arts," she says. "We are all crying out for the arts after the year we've had."

Newcastle Writers Festival also has an event in conjunction with the festival - former prime minister Julia Gillard will discuss her latest book, Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons co-written with economist Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in conversation with writers festival director Rosemarie Milsom at Wests NEX on February 13 (tickets for which have sold out).

There are some shows from outside that have been brought in for the festival, like Pony Express. This cutting edge duo are in residency at The Lock Up creative space, working on a bigger presentation for later in the year. On Saturday, they will discuss their past works, and share their process of building the world of Epoch Wars, and speak with experimental artists Emma Maye Gibson (known creatively as Betty Grumble), Dale Collier, BLECK and Tallulah Brown about queer, ecological, socially engaged, collaborative, and time-based ways of making in the era of the 'Permaweird'.

Australian singer and songwriter Paul Dempsey was forced to cancel an extraordinary show at Newcastle Art Gallery slated for Sunday, February 14, which would have marked the close of the We Can Be Heroes photography exhibition featuring four rock'n'roll music photographers.