The Tokyo Picnic Club will be searching out city streets and urban open spaces where the ultimate picnic spots could be created this August.

Picnopolis will be the first time that the Tokyo Picnic Club has brought its unique take on picnics to the UK.

It is just one of the unique events that will be turning NewcastleGateshead Japanese for the summer, as part of EAST'08, a world-class celebration of contemporary Asian culture in North East England.

A giant 85-foot-long lawn of real grass in the shape of an aeroplane will land in Baltic Square on Gateshead Quays for ten days from August 16-25.

Dozens of smaller plane-shaped picnic mats will also travel around nine other picnic sites in NewcastleGateshead.

These will be chosen with the help of local people.

During Picnopolis, there will be competitions and special events culminating in the Picnic of the Year contest on August Bank Holiday Monday (August 25).

Special themed food and picnic gear will also be on sale.

This week members of Tokyo Picnic Club will not only be exploring possible picnic sites and meeting local retailers and food producers, but also start work to set up a NewcastleGateshead Picnic Club.

The club will be made up of local people who will work together in the coming weeks to help create amazing picnics in fun and unusual places.

Hiroshi Ota is one of the Tokyo Picnic Club members.

He first visited NewcastleGateshead through his work as an architect.

In March 2007, he met NewcastleGatehead Initiative to find out about its cultural events programme and the area's cultural regeneration.

He decided it would be the perfect place to bring the club's unique take on picnics:

"When I first visited here I was very impressed with the cultural regeneration of NewcastleGateshead, its public art and impressive contemporary public spaces.

"It seemed the perfect contemporary setting for people to rediscover and reinvent the art of the picnic for the 21st century.

"We cannot wait to find out from local people what they think would be the perfect Geordie picnic."

Picnopolis is part of EAST'08, a world-class celebration of contemporary Asian culture in North East England, managed by culture10 at NewcastleGateshead Initiative.

Stella Hall, Creative Director of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: "We are delighted to welcome members of the Tokyo Picnic Club to NewcastleGateshead this week to plan for Picnopolis.

"It will be a fantastic event that will bring the art of picnicking up-to-date in unexpected and iconic urban locations during August Bank Holiday.

"It is one example of the exciting events taking place this year, as part of East'08, our world-class festival of contemporary Asian culture in North East England."

Anyone wanting to know more about how they can get involved can visit www.picnicclub.org or e-mail picnopolis@picnicclub.org