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Explore the key actions to take and resources available for your festival journey.
The festival cycle
Key dates
|
2 March |
Event registration opens |
|
April / May |
Long-lead press release deadline |
|
1 June |
Event directory launches |
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13 August |
Event registration deadline |
|
11-20 September |
The festival! |
|
4 October |
Evaluation deadline |
|
November |
Evaluation report published |
Save the date - Future festival dates
Heritage Open Days 2027: 10-19 September 2027
Heritage Open Days 2028: 8-17 September 2028
Heritage Open Days 2029: 7-16 September 2029
1 - Planning
The first step is to join our community for access to our resources and events. Don't worry, this doesn't commit you to running an event, it just sets you up for the festival cycle.
- Join the community to access our resources.
- Attend one of our webinars for inspiration, an opportunity to meet the community and ask questions.
- Explore the Content hub for useful resources, from inspiration packs to templates.
- Check our entry criteria and familiarise yourself with the registration form, so you know all the details you need, and the deadlines!
Planning and inspiration sessions
Keen to get ahead this year but wondering where to start? Join one of our events for top tips and more!
2 - Register your event
Registration opens in March and all events MUST be registered via your Organiser area by the final deadline (13 August 2026).
- Event registration opens in March, and the earlier you submit details the more support we can give you.
- You can update and submit past event records.
- You can save drafts as you go, but everything MUST be submitted by the final deadline.
- You can still amend your entry right up to the event itself.
3 - Marketing
You may have planned the best event in the world but don't forget to tell people about it!
- Join one of our media webinars in the summer for inspiration and top tips.
- Use our online design templates to make the most of our recognised national festival branding.
- Order your free marketing materials (open from May, limited stocks).
- Check your listing on the event directory (live from June). Is it accurate? Is it engaging?
- Update us if anything changes - you can amend your entry until the day itself.
Marketing and media sessions
From press releases to social media posts, join one of our events for top tips and more!
4 - Over the festival (11-20 Sept)
Fingers crossed on the weather and all your plans paying off! The national team will be online throughout the festival, so if you have any last minute queries don't hesitate to reach out.
- Double check your event listing - we rely on these to answer queries throughout the festival. Let us know if anything has changed.
- Keep track of any signage you put up, so you can gather it back in and use again next year!
- Make sure you take a moment to ENJOY it!
- Remember to take photos and track numbers if possible.
- Ask for feedback and encourage visitors to fill in the national survey to help us all!
5 - Evaluation
Feedback is vital to the festival, it helps us keep improving and provides essential evidence of our impact and value. This helps us all to gain more supporters and funding!
- Encourage visitors to complete the national feedback survey.
- Send in your own feedback asap to be included in the national report.
- Join our Evaluation webinar to hear and discuss the national results.
- Watch out for the regional breakdown and feedback we will share with the community.
- Feed the results back in to your future planning!
Review the year
Look out for the invitation to our end of year webinar discussing the festival's impact. All active organisers and coordinators will be invited.
Important things to note
Event entry criteria
Your event doesn’t need to be big or fancy or boast of famous connections (although we like those things too!), it just needs to meet these conditions:
1. Register with us by the final deadline
Heritage Open Days is a trademarked festival, ALL events must be registered with us.
2. Take place in England (or online!)
We are England's offer for European Heritage Days. If you're across a border then check out the other UK programmes run by different organisations.
3. FREE from entrance to exit
It is possible to raise money over the festival BUT admission to the main attraction of your event has to be free of charge. Running a free tour if visitors have to pay a site entrance fee doesn't count!
4. Offer something special
- Open a site/part of a site that isn’t usually open to the public.
- Launch a new online activity/event.
- Offer free entry to a usually charging site/activity.
- If your site is open free of charge all year round, then something out of the ordinary! Such as: have volunteer stewards on site to greet visitors and answer questions / run an activity / invite other groups to showcase their work – e.g. artists, choirs, local history societies.
5. Take place within the festival dates
The festival covers ten days in early September, and your event must occur at some point during this time. However, it doesn’t have to be open all day, every day - your event can just be a single pre-bookable tour or a one-off online event.
Festival safeguarding
We're committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive community. No matter your role, make sure you familiarise yourself with our safeguarding page and the code of conduct.
Festival theme
Be inspired by our annual festival theme.
You don’t have to use it, but extra resources and opportunities are available for those that do.