Why we take part
We have been taking part in some capacity for multiple years now. It’s a well branded event and is becoming more well known, I also enjoy the opportunities and it’s good for the CV.
What we do for HODs
Following feedback from community groups we had worked with for previous festivals, in 2025 we opted for a larger scale offer. We decided to lean in to the word ‘heritage’ and aim for a more traditional audience; concentrating on those who knew what the National Trust was, but had either let their membership lapse, or had not visited us on their doorstep.
I started in May asking departments what they would like to offer under the theme of ‘Behind the Scenes’: if any teams were testing anything, or able to tweak something they’d done in the past. We also spoke to other areas of the estate too including holiday cottages and the church, then the welcome team extended the cycle hire times so more visitors could get out and about to these areas. We then shaped a full ten days of offer to include as much as possible…
Walks and tours: From life below stairs to climate change adaptations, visitors could join a range of sessions exploring our past, present and future.
Pop up talks and specialist speakers: Our Collection Assistants gave mini pop up talks on the history and care of some our collection items. And we invited specialist speakers to share their work in our West Gallery; visitors enjoyed hearing from a post-graduate researcher on Lady Hervey, and from the author of the newly published book ‘100 Things to Wear’.
Social media posts: We also did behind the scenes team videos of our storerooms and roof spaces to share more online.
Lovely people, enjoyed talking to the team, lots to do and find out about.
The difference it makes
We found some of our community groups and schools made a specific effort to come for the festival – including three visits from a local SEND school and volunteer managers from a local community support hub and church. It sounded like because there was something ‘on’ they made an effort to book their visit and travel during that time.
Thank you so much for your support with our students earlier and for giving time and enthusiasm when showing the students the seeds. They all had a lovely morning and enjoyed the hands on experiences. The class are looking forward to returning later in the month and I hope we will be able to get involved with more events over the course of the year.
Best bits
Personally, I loved seeing the students from our local Special Education and Disability Trust enjoying a seed talk from our Senior Gardener and hearing that the cycle hub was able to upsell a 2 hour bike hire to a full day with one of the holiday cottages open in the parkland.
One of the funnest days at work I’ve had in a while.
Daisy’s Top Tips
- Start early. So you’re not working on this during Summer Holidays business!
- Start with what you have on offer and build up.
- Brand everything leading up to it with the HODs colours and logos so both visitors and team recognise what is part of it
- Have leaflets that welcome/ thank visitors, with what’s worth coming back for on the back.
Images from: Ickworth Estate National Trust + HODs 2025 - Claire Naylor.
Inspired?! Find out more
- Ickworth Estate - National Trust
- A Fashionable Collection - Have a taster of '100 Things to Wear'
- More case studies - Meet other local organisers
- Get involved - Taking part in Heritage Open Days