Everything You Need to Know About: Heritage Open Days in Newcastle
Make the most of Heritage Open Days in Newcastle with our handy guide
Heritage Open Days, England’s biggest community-led festival of history and culture, returns from 11th-20th September.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to explore your local area like never before and Newcastle – a city rich in both history and culture – embraces the festival wholeheartedly, with dozens of venues and organisations offering all kinds of interesting activities.
To help you make the most of Heritage Open Days in Newcastle, we’ve put together a handy guide – from which city centre venues are taking part to what kinds of events and activities are happening.
What is Heritage Open Days?
Established in 1994, Heritage Open Days is a free festival that sees thousands of volunteers and organisations across England host events, activities and tours that highlight their local community’s heritage, history and culture.
Each year, the festival is centred around a different theme and this year’s is Everyday Histories – an exploration of the daily working lives of our ancestors.
When is Heritage Open Days taking place?
This year, Heritage Open Days takes place from Friday 11th September to Sunday 20th September – that’s 10 whole days to soak up the city’s rich history and vibrant culture!
Where is it happening?
Heritage Open Days is an England-wide event and there’s lots happening in the North East, plus plenty to enjoy in Newcastle city centre.
What events and activities are happening?
There are so many interesting things to do during Heritage Open Days in Newcastle that you’ll be spoilt for choice!
Many legendary local venues are throwing open their doors to the public and hosting exclusive guided tours. You could explore the Victorian stage machinery at Tyne Theatre & Opera House and learn about the various characters who've worked there over the years, discover what’s behind the door of the High Bridge Works, or dig into the archives at the Discovery Museum.
Plenty of walking tours are taking place too if you fancy stretching your legs a bit during Heritage Open Days. Explore locations like Leazes Park or take tours focusing on specific aspects of our city’s makeup and history including its philanthropic past and and the contributions of its African population.
But wait, that’s not all! There are some fascinating talks taking place too with Newcastle City Library hosting local playwright Ed Waugh for his Tyneside & The 2026 General Strike talk and artist Julia Heslop who'll be discussing the history and future of Elswick Lead Works. Over at The Common Room, meanwhile, there'll be a talk from local expert Les Turnbull about the Blyth and Tyne Railway.
See? We weren’t lying when we said you’ll be spoilt for choice!
How much does it cost?
One of the best things about Heritage Open Days is that all events and activities are completely free. However, some do require booking so it’s best to check individual event listings on the Heritage Open Days website for any booking details.
We’re lucky to live in a city with such rich history and culture, and Heritage Open Days is the perfect excuse to soak it all up. For more information about events happening in Newcastle city centre, visit the Heritage Open Days website.
Main Image: Newcastle Castle / (c) NewcastleGateshead Initiative via Flickr / Free to use under CC0 1.0 Universal
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