WITH only two days to go to New Year's Eve, part of the region is preparing to celebrate the arrival of 2004 in style.

The festivities in Newcastle and Gateshead have been designed to cater for people of all ages and everything will be free.

Between 4pm and 7pm on New Year's Eve, Saltwell Park, in Gateshead, will be transformed into a fire garden.

Thousands of lanterns and flaming flowerpots will be used to create pathways and patterns on the ground.

The finale will include flowers created from 5,000 fireworks.

From 4pm until 9pm, in the Grey's Monument, Eldon Square and Haymarket area of Newcastle city centre, international artists will provide a programme of entertainment on a fire and ice theme.

The entertainment will include some of the world's best fire artists.

Among the attractions will be a fiery musical encounter between the Ice Queen and the Fire King, ice-sculptures and a specially commissioned ice ball.

For those who decide to move on to their own celebrations, there will be an opportunity to gather together again at midnight to see in the New Year and watch the fireworks above Tyneside.

Giant countdown clocks will be beamed on to Grey's Monument and Newcastle Civic Centre.

For the first time, the firework display will be sent up simultaneously from four separate sites ranged along a North-South line across Newcastle and Gateshead.

Organisers took the decision to ensure that people from both areas could see the spectacular.

People will be able to find their own vantage points by watching out for beams of lights shone up into the sky from the early evening.

The festivities will continue on New Year's Day between 4pm and 5.30pm in Baltic Square, Gateshead, with a further chance to see Deabru Baltzak with his drums of fire and Scot Jenerik.