Heritage Open Days
Annual four-day festival celebrating England’s local history and giving free access to thousands of places usually closed to the public.
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Latest posts
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New Year Honours – festival favourites
New Year is a time for lists, resolutions and honours; so reflecting on last year and thinking about what highlights lie ahead, we’ve come up with an alternative Honours list. To get you thinking about what catches attention, here are some events that proved firm favourites for…
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Can you believe what you see?
Come closer, these images will be worth a second look! From a smoking urn to a hallway hiding in a cupboard, turns out you definitely shouldn't believe everything you first see! Two of the National Trust's curators have seven wonderful optical illusions to share from amongst…
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A look back at New Wave 2023
We had so much fun working with fourteen wonderful organisers across England this year as part of New Wave. The result was a jam-packed programme of unique events reflecting the passions of the young people involved: from creative competitions to LGBTQIA+ safe spaces – and…
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Disability History: ‘Any Work’ at the Mill
Think of a Victorian mill working at full tilt - it's big, noisy, terrible working conditions that damaged the health of workers. But look closer at those workers, and we find examples of how disabled people have always been a valued part of the team. A brilliant exhibition at…
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Sunderland Culture
This year Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens hosted a special Pride Party interwoven with the traditional craft of proggy. This innovative event was co-created with young people as long term festival participants, Sunderland Culture, joined our New Wave programme. Written by...…
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Buckinghamshire Archives - Treasures of the dark tower!
Think archives are just full of dusty old documents? Think again! Creaking open the door of their 'dark fortress' Callum from Buckinghamshire Archives is here to give us a peek at some of their treasures. From truly 'delicious' (?!) documents to delightful doodles, with some…
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Festival Review 2023
This year’s festival began in unexpected Summer heat and ended in Autumn rain, but the odd weather didn’t wilt or dampen festival spirits. Our largest community of local organisers ever set up 5,282 events; ranging from big open days at sites like the BFI National Archive, and…
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BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
A Hindu place of worship in a modern building, beautifully decorated with traditional designs, welcomed many eager visitors over Heritage Open Days for the first time this year. Careful planning to engage a large new team of volunteers, ranging in age from 11-70+, meant they…
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The South Asia Collection
A collection of art and crafts from South Asia and neighbouring countries, housed in an extraordinary old building has been opening its doors to festival visitors since 2015. Heritage Open Days (HODs) provides a valuable platform for the expert team to highlight their work and…
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Take 5 with the Team
Now that the bunting has been packed away, and the festival buzz has slowly subsided for another year it's the perfect time to take a step back and reflect on another fantastic festival and share some of our plans for the winter months. From filtering through feedback to future…
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Creativity Unwrapped - a miscellany
Actors, choral singers, circus owners and steel pan musicians; all part of our rich creative story. This year we’ve been unwrapping the history of creativity and for Black History Month wanted to share a snapshot of just some of the stories to be found across England. Let the…
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Heatherfield Heritage
Traditional skills don't have to be lost in the past. To demonstrate this Heatherfield Heritage's eclectic team (including painters, carpenters, mechanics and much more!) took a punt with an online offering for their first Heritage Open Days. Overcoming challenges they created a…
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Lamport Hall & Gardens
This beautiful Historic House in Northamptonshire offered that little something extra over their first Heritage Open Days, which drew in the crowds. Inspired by our work with Icon they ran a Conservation Unlocked event with experts in stained glass, gilding, books, and textiles…
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Take 5 with the Team: festival travels 2023
Blazing sunshine heralded the start of our festival, though it blew out in Autumnal style. All the team were able to get out and about this year though, to meet up with organisers and see events in action, so, whilst we gather our breath before planning the next chapter, we…
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Take 5 With the Team
Hello, I'm Maddy and I’ve been the Volunteer Web Content Creator for Heritage Open Days this year! My job has been to write the Festival Spotlight posts, and it’s been so much fun to ferret around in the warren of the 5000 strong-events registry to pick out some of the best that…
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How was your HODs?
Over 10 days, thousands of amazing people have welcomed visitors to over 5,000 events celebrating our history and culture. A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone involved; to all of you who visited and especially to all who made those visits possible. We'd love to hear how it all…
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Online Events
Has an event ever caught your eye, only to discover that it’s taking place on the other side of the country? Luckily we have a huge range of online events for you to browse at your leisure! Whether you’re a sweet-toothed Geordie who can’t get to London’s Chocolate Museum, or a…
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Still To Come
Don't Fret - it's not over yet! Heritage Open Days is officially in full swing, with thousands of events taking place all across the country! Not had a chance to get out there yet? No stress, there’s still loads of incredible opportunities to get involved - online and in person.…
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Thousands of Events Still to Come
The country’s largest festival of history and culture is here with a packed programme of free events - and it’s not too late to get involved Heritage Open Days (HODs) may be well underway but there are still over 3,000 opportunities left to attend free events and activities…
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Creativity Unwrapped
What gives England’s heritage the X-factor?! From monastic architecture to modern street art; morris dancing to Regency balls; a house of fashion to the theatrical stage, and so – much – more! This year we’re unwrapping the colourful history of creativity but with so much to…