Norfolk Heritage Open Days is back Friday 6 September – Sunday 15 September and local people, organisations, sites, venues and charities across Norfolk are invited to participate in this unique free Festival. This annual Festival gives everyone the chance to share their stories and celebrate local history with visitors from across the country.
Festival Dates Friday 6 September – Sunday 15 September
Heritage Open Days (HODs) is England’s largest free festival of heritage and culture. Every year thousands of people attend free HODs events, discovering more about England’s history, learning the stories behind some of our most loved buildings and organisations, and discovering the untold tales and unsung heroes of the country. 2024 brings Heritage Open Days’ 30th anniversary: marking three decades of honouring the ordinary and extraordinary.
Norfolk Heritage Open Days is coordinated by The Forum. In 2023 Norwich had the largest Heritage Open Days programme of any city in the country: demonstrating the incredible history and passion for our City of Stories. For 2024, Norfolk Heritage Open Days is looking forward to welcoming new organisers from across the county, as well as much loved favourites.
Katie Ellis, Norfolk Heritage Open Days Events Producer, says “Heritage Open Days celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024 and we can’t wait to hear about all the fascinating stories and experiences that Norfolk organisers will be sharing with visitors this year.”
Everybody is welcome to register as a Norfolk Heritage Days Organiser, and participation is completely free. 91% of 2023’s Norfolk organisers would recommend other organisations take part in HODs, and 72% welcomed more visitors during HODs than on a normal opening day.
2023 saw thousands of visitors exploring and discovering places across the county, with more than 310 events for people to attend. Organisers are welcome to hold a single event, or open their doors across the entire week: whatever is most convenient for them. Demand for Norfolk Heritage Open Days is huge, with many visitors attending multiple events and sites across the week, and pre-book events often fully booked within an hour of ticket release.
Venues and organisers interested in taking part can find out more by emailing [email protected]<mailto:hods@theforumnorwich.co.uk> or visiting norfolkheritageopendays.co.uk/get-involved. Organisers must register by Sunday 26 May for their events to be included in the Norfolk listings brochure, which has a print run of 25,000 and is distributed across the region.
This year’s Heritage Open Days theme is Routes – Networks – Connections, celebrating how people and ideas have moved and come together throughout history: from the impact of railways, to our own Norwich Strangers. Organisers are welcome to submit an event on the theme, or something else entirely!
For more information on Norfolk Heritage Open Days visit norfolkheritageopendays.co.uk