Heritage Open Days are an annual celebration of England's architecture and culture that allows visitors free access to historical landmarks that are either not usually open, or would normally charge an entrance fee. It also includes tours, events and activities related to architecture and culture.
Heritage Open Days were established in 1994 as England's contribution to European Heritage Days, in which 49 countries now participate.
Organised by volunteers — usually property owners or managers — for local people, Heritage Open Days are one of England's biggest and most popular voluntary cultural event, attracting some 800,000 people every year. Until April 2009 the Civic Trust gave central co-ordination and a national voice to the event; it is now organised and co-ordinated by English Heritage.
The event is usually held on the second weekend of September. The dates for 2009 were 10–13 September.
London stages a separate event, Open House London, which usually takes place the following weekend, the third weekend of September.
Famous quotes containing the words heritage, open and/or days:
“It seems to me that upbringings have themes. The parents set the theme, either explicitly or implicitly, and the children pick it up, sometimes accurately and sometimes not so accurately.... The theme may be “Our family has a distinguished heritage that you must live up to” or “No matter what happens, we are fortunate to be together in this lovely corner of the earth” or “We have worked hard so that you can have the opportunities we didn’t have.””
—Calvin Trillin (20th century)
“The role of the writer is not simply to arrange Being according to his own lights; he must also serve as a medium to Being and remain open to its often unfathomable dictates. This is the only way the work can transcend its creator and radiate its meaning further than the author himself can see or perceive.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“People in Stamps used to say that the whites in our town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn’t buy vanilla ice cream. Except on July Fourth. Other days he had to be satisfied with chocolate.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)