Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, bringing together over 2,500 organisations, 5,000 events and 40,000 volunteers. Every year for four days in September, places across the country throw open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences between the 7 – 10 September – and it’s all FREE.
England’s largest and most diverse festival of history is expanding again this year, focusing on hidden stories and historical secrets from thousands of towns, villages and regions across the country. We’re opening up everywhere from artists’ studios to nuclear bunkers, revealing hidden gardens and historic houses, and telling the stories of those who lived, built, worked and died in them.
At the heart of this year’s festival are four ‘Unsung Stories’; newly-created events, made possible by funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, focusing on personal histories from the LGBTQ community. ‘This is a landmark year for us,’ says Annie Reilly, Manager of Heritage Open Days. ‘We have artists looking at Alan Turing with a fresh lens and uncovering the love story of WWII soldiers Gilbert and Gordon, as well as the story of the first mosque in England, and the opening of secret tunnels used by mills workers in Shipley. History is stories, all our stories, and this year, more than ever before, Heritage Open Days is a celebration of that.’
Download the full press release with details of event highlights from the website.
