Welcome to England’s favourite heritage festival!

Every September some 40,000 volunteers across England organise 5,000 events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It's your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore.

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Noticeboard

HODs news

Extraordinary Women: Stories from the ‘Second’ Sex

Here at HODs HQ, we don’t like to let the grass grow too much. Four weeks ago today we – like many…

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HODs news

Festival fever

Bunting danced on the breeze and the sun shone this weekend as castles, caves and coastlines were explored for…

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BLOG: Festival spotlights

Introducing…Natural England

This year, in celebration of our Heritage and Nature theme we have been working with the lovely people at Natural…

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BLOG: Festival spotlights

Top Ten: Towns, cities and everything in between further North!

Part two of our ‘Top Ten Places’ blog. We’ve taken the chance to explore some of our favourite…

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Event directory

Find events near you

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Unsung Stories

Our special arts project highlights four stories of LGBTQ heritage

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Festival spotlights

Shining a light on some of the people and places that participate

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