A GIANT beam of light will pierce the skies at one minute past midnight tonight heralding a new cultural dawn for the North-East.

Accompanied by a three-hour fanfare of music, members of the public will be able to get their first glimpse inside the £46m Gateshead Baltic Arts Centre.

Sitting in the shadow of the historic Tyne Bridge and "blinking eye" Millennium Bridge, the contemporary arts centre in a converted flour mill will play a key part in the joint bid by Newcastle and Gateshead to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Funded mainly through Lottery money, the centre is expected to create about 500 jobs and generate an estimated £5m a year for the local economy.

As well as art spaces, there will be a shop, a caf and a rooftop restaurant with sweeping views over the River Tyne.

The opening exhibition, appropriately branded B.Open, includes new commissions, artists and publishers in residence and a series of live arts events.

The Baltic site was occupied from about 1850 until 1890 by an iron works.

It lay derelict until after the Second World War when the mill was built for the production of flour and animal feed, opening in 1950. It closed in 1980.

In keeping with the building's former use, there will also be a number of live art events on the theme of bread.

After opening from midnight to 3am tonight, the Baltic will reopen from 10am-7pm tomorrow.