An omnibus survey carried out on 16 September has revealed that 5% of England’s adult population outside London* visited a Heritage Open Days event this year. This equates to some 1.7 million visitors, an all-time high.
Heritage Open Days 2011 took place from 8-11 September. Over 40,000 local organisers and volunteers opened up and staged a fantastic programme of 4,421 sites and events.
The survey also highlighted that one in three or around 11 million people in England are aware of Heritage Open Days. The findings confirm Heritage Open Days as Britain’s largest and most popular grassroots cultural event.
More details of this year’s participation will emerge in the coming weeks as local organisers are feeding back their information, and visitor data collected over the four open days is being processed.
*Heritage Open Days covers England’s regions, with the exception of London, which holds an independent Open House weekend.
