Europe’s most widely celebrated cultural heritage festival is starting next week with the opening of the 2016 Heritage Week events in Ireland. On August 20th, Irish cathedrals will welcome visitors to the inside of the bell rooms, historic private and public houses will unveil their architectural histories, while numerous cultural institutions will organise themed exhibitions and guided tours. These are just some of the events that will be a part of this year’s Heritage Week programme in Ireland, which will mark the start of the European Heritage Days celebrations across the continent.

With the Czech Republic and Slovakia starting their programmes early in September, the festival will continue throughout late summer and early autumn. Dozens of thousands of events will put heritage at the centre of European cultural life, bringing together people from different countries to celebrate the same values and shared identity. This will be the most inspiring time to explore European heritage, which is engraved in historic objects, places, and minds of people around us.

Dedicated to the Heritage Communities theme, this year’s European Heritage Days will be focused on people and their efforts to preserve heritage for future generations. The theme has inspired numerous new approaches to organising the events, which have already attracted the attention of Europeans. 

Europe Prepares for European Heritage Days

The growing interest in being a part of European Heritage Days is already evident on social media. As a means for organising institutions to promote their events and communicate with the visitors, social media play an important role in expanding the celebration.

One month to go until this - looking forward to it! @heritageopenday pic.twitter.com/ymuLISTDTf

— Essex Record Office (@essexarchive) August 10, 2016

 

A month today, on the 10/09/16 @gabbyheffernan & I are giving tours of Hands on History Museum! You should come! pic.twitter.com/9d8FsgUowu

— Lauren Field (@Ren_Field87) August 10, 2016

 

 

Another great #volunteer opportunity for #DoorsOpenDays from our friends @maryhill_halls https://t.co/PXw4fhhGni #builtheritage #Glasgow

— GlasgowDoorsOpenDays (@GlasgowDOD) July 27, 2016

 

Visitors, on the other hand, feel happy to share their most memorable European Heritage Days moments and give a greater visibility to their local heritage sites. By sharing their own heritage journeys, they offer new perspectives to the heritage around us and give new meanings to places around them, encouraging others to join the celebrations.  

Until the Autumn and Beyond

Soon after the European Heritage Days events in Ireland end, the Czech Republic will start off the festival with the official launch ceremony in Slavonice on 3rd September. At the same time, Slovakia’s beautiful castles, museums, galleries will open to present their programmes, while Netherlands, Poland, France, Greece, and many other countries will join later that month. In October, a number of events will be taking place across the rest of Europe, including Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, and others. By the end of October, the official programmes in most countries will have ended, leaving permanent impressions about Europe's fascinating heritage sites that will continue to inspire people for new explorations of their traditional cultures and shared European values.

The list of available events is could be found on the European Heritage Days interactive map, which will be updated as new programmes are announced.

Photo credit: http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/ehd-jep/presentation