Would you like over 400,000 people to know about your National Heritage Week project, talk or event? Make sure you register for National Heritage Week. Event registration is now open.
Across the country plans are coming together for National Heritage Week 2016 which will take place from the 20th to 28th August 2016. Events are organised by almost 1,000 heritage enthusiasts from organisations to community groups to individuals.
Last year National Heritage Week hosted its biggest national celebration of all things heritage, with over 405,000 people attending 1,826 events.
Each year, during the last week of August, many national and hundreds of local community organisations participate by planning events throughout the country, the majority of which are free of charge. More than anything National Heritage Week is a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on the work of thousands of volunteers who give their time to preserve and promote our natural, built and cultural heritage.
One Hundred Years of Heritage
This year’s theme is One Hundred Years of Heritage. In the centenary year of our 1916 commemorations, what better time to celebrate the last 100 years of Ireland's heritage: historical, archaeological, architectural and environmental. How did people live, what did they eat, how did they travel, what jobs did they do? What was life like for a soldier, a farmer, a nurse or a schoolchild? What was important to those living in Ireland then, are these things still important to us now? What has been saved and what has disappeared?
Click here to find out what events are on in your area
Register your event today!
Does your local community have an event planned for Heritage Week? Are you making last minute plans for an event? All details must be submitted by July 8th and you can do so on online here.
Key messages when planning and promoting your Heritage Week event
There are a number of key messages the Heritage Council asks you to consider when promoting and planning your National Heritage Week event. Not all messages apply to all events. Taking on board what is most relevant to you will make a difference and this list is designed to help you when planning and communicating your event:
- Encourage active participation and ‘doing’. This means actively enjoying Ireland’s natural and built heritage environment, and helping to protect and conserve it.
- Encourage families and children to get outdoors more often and value what our natural world has to offer (relaxation, wellbeing, good health).
- Encourage people to get involved in their local heritage society and improvement/conservation initiatives.
- Encourage volunteering activities.
- Emphasize the benefits protecting our natural heritage brings to Ireland (jobs, tourism, water, food, flood control, health and enjoyment).
- In particular, this year, we wish to spark a national conversation about the connection between people and place.
For more information and to register your event please visit www.heritageweek.ie
We hope you have found the information we have shared helpful. While you are here, we have a small favour to ask. Ireland Reaching Out is a non-profit organisation that relies on public funding and donations to ensure a completely free family history advisory service to anyone of Irish heritage who needs help connecting with their Irish place of origin. If you would like to support our mission, please click on the donate button and make a contribution. Any amount, big or small, is appreciated and makes a difference.