People will be brought to shore from a "shipwreck" via breeches buoy by members of the South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade in a re-enactment of a rescue on 2 April 1866.
A seine-net fishing boat will play the part of the schooner Tenterden which was wrecked during a heavy storm.
The event, near the watch House off the South Pier, is part of the brigade's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Over the weekend there will also be a special dinner, and a Service of Thanksgiving in St. Hilda's Church on Sunday.
A breeches buoy is a lifebuoy with a canvas sling - similar in form to a pair of breeches - attached to a rope and pulley. The rope is fired on to the vessel by a rocket.
At the time of the rescue, the brigade had only been in existence for two months, and although there had been three practice drills it was the first time the equipment had been used in a life-or-death situation.
Despite the bad weather, all those on board the ship - including the captain's wife and their 18-month-old baby, were winched to safety.
The men were taken to a nearby public house, while the woman and child were tended to by local women.
South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade is credited to have saved more than 600 lives from shipwreck since it was founded, and has now branched out into search and rescue operations.
As part of the anniversary celebrations there will be a series of illustrated talks and open days, and later in the year a major exhibition in South Shields Museum.

Iain Stuart, 41, from Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire, worked for the oil field services company Halliburton.
The father-of -two was on board the Airbus EC225LP "Super Puma" when it crashed near Bergen on 29 April.
Mr Stuart's funeral will take place at Laurencekirk Parish Church before he is laid to rest at Laurencekirk Cemetery.
A statement from his family said he was "a good friend to many and will be greatly missed by all who knew him".
The maker of the helicopter that crashed has lifted its recommendation that the same type of aircraft be grounded worldwide.
Airbus Helicopters said initial evidence suggested no link with two previous incidents in Scotland involving Super Puma H225 helicopters.
The aircraft will remain grounded in the UK, however, as a Civil Aviation Authority flight ban remains in force.
In 2012, two EC225 Super Puma helicopters ditched into the North Sea in Scotland - one off Aberdeen and another off Shetland. Both incidents were blamed on gearbox problems and all passengers and crew were rescued.
EC225s in the UK were grounded following the incidents but given the go-ahead to resume flying in August 2013.
Later that same month a different model of Super Puma, the AS332 L2, crashed off Shetland, killing four people.
Super Pumas are responsible for many of the 140,000 helicopter passenger flights in the UK each year.
A sea to land rescue is set to take place on the South Tyneside coast.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The funeral of a Scottish oil worker who died when a helicopter crashed in Norway killing 13 people is to take place on Friday.