City of Newcastle launched a new program on October 30 called Enjoy Newcastle, which offers families a range of mostly free activities such as circus workshops and billy cart challenges outside of the Supercars precinct on race weekend - November 23 and 24.

"Enjoy Newcastle is just one way the [council] will help businesses take advantage of the influx of visitors here to attend the Newcastle 500," Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.

"It's about highlighting all the great things to do in our city and encouraging visitors to venture beyond the race precinct to discover more of our city."

Enjoy Newcastle is a program of events and activities aimed at creating a festival atmosphere in the city centre during the Newcastle 500.

The program will kick off on Thursday, November 21 with a signing session in Civic Park.

All 26 Supercars drivers will be on hand for autographs. The event will also include a live broadcast of Trackside on Fox Sports.

There will be a range of events staged in the Hunter Street Mall, next to the race precinct, on the Saturday and Sunday including Super-duper Karts (billy cart) challenges, pop-up shops, family-friendly activities and live entertainment.

Super-duper Karts is the brainchild of Hunter Street Mall cafe owner Lucy Glover.

During the weekend, Ms Glover and other mall traders will deliver a range of free activities in the mall for families while raising money for local charities.

"We want to showcase what Hunter Street Mall and our businesses have to offer by bringing the place alive and community together," Ms Glover said.

Meanwhile, in Civic Park on the Saturday and Sunday, there will be a super-sized Newcastle-themed Monopoly board for the public to play, a monster truck slide, jumping castles, obstacle course and an auto-race simulator.

There will also be a dedicated under-6 play area and an adrenaline rush obstacle course suitable for children and adults.

The program also included the Newcastle 500 concert. However, the concert was cancelled on November 14 when rock band KISS, who was due to headline the show, cancelled its Australia tour due to 67-year-old co-frontman Paul Stanley suffering from influenza and a throat infection.

The inaugural Supercars race in 2017 attracted a crowd of more than 190,000, with visitors spending more than $12.5 million in the region.

In 2018, Newcastle Airport saw record numbers of passengers touch down at its Williamtown terminal on the first day of the event. Additionally, Supercars set a record-breaking year in viewing audiences across television and digital platforms for the Newcastle 500.

"As thousands of event-goers arrive for this year's big race weekend, we're poised to show off our spectacular natural coastline and fabulous eateries," Cr Nelmes said.

"There will be plenty of fun for the family with opportunities for visitors and locals to soak up the atmosphere on and off the racetrack."

Super Signing Session

Superkids Pitstop

Super-duper Karts