Christchurch Heritage Festival

Heritage Week, now the Christchurch Heritage Festival, is an annual festival held in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula to celebrate our heritage.

Christchurch Heritage Festival, Monday 7 to Monday 28 October 2019

Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Heritage Week has been held annually for over 20 years. The event continues to involve many people, groups and organisations and has not been a calendar week for some time. In order to accommodate all the event providers and be able to include both Labour Weekend and part of the October school holidays, the festival will run over three weeks this year. The event will change its name to the Christchurch Heritage Festival.

2019 Theme: Encounter our Stories

This year it's 250 years since the first meetings between Māori and Europeans on the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand. This anniversary is being acknowledged by Manatū Taonga, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage through the Tuia - Encounters 250 (Tuia 250)(external link) commemorations that are being planned around the country in 2019.             

Ōtautahi Christchurch has many stories including those of Ngāi Tahu, the European settlers, Pasifika and people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. During the Christchurch Heritage Festival let’s share stories from our history that link us to this place and all the peoples that have journeyed and settled here. He tātai muka, he tātai tangata - weave together the strands, weave together the people.

https://ccc.govt.nz/culture-and-community/heritage/christchurch-heritage-festival/

Want to be involved?

The first opportunity to find out about the Christchurch Heritage Festival 2019 will be at the community event providers’ meeting on Tuesday 7 May at Christchurch City Council's Te Hononga Civic Building, 53 Hereford Street.  Please enter from Hereford Street and go up to the Function Room on the first floor next to the café. 

We welcome new and returning event providers to join the Christchurch Heritage Festival programme. Online event applications will open soon after the meeting. Keep an eye on this page for more details.

Email heritage@ccc.govt.nz for Christchurch Heritage Festival enquiries or to be added to the email list for updates.