Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, involving thousands of local volunteers and organisations. Every year for 10 days in September it brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. Stories are told, traditions explored, and histories brought to life. It offers the public a chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.
This year’s Heritage Open Days is just a few weeks away and an exciting programme with thousands of events and experiences is already taking shape. The free festival is brought to you by the National Trust, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and delivered by thousands of local organisations and volunteers. Each year it brings over a million people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. From historic houses to factory floors, museums to music halls, churches to mandirs, and greenhouses to graveyards, a diverse array of places, spaces and community groups will offer up free events for all this Autumn.
In Ipswich, the festival is coordinated by The Ipswich Society
A full printable programme of HOD events is now available by clicking here:
Buildings and places of interest around the town will be open and different times during the festival which runs from 12-21 September 2025.
A full directory of the Ipswich Buildings participating and events running is here .
Why not take part and explore plenty of places in Ipswich that you might not have seen?
Amongst many others, specific events for HOD include:
The Ipswich Society – Photography Exhibition
Suffolk Archives – Archive showcase
Sea Shanty Flash Mob at Ipswich Heritage Harbour
The men who made the boats: architectural tour of Ipswich Heritage Harbour
Founded in 1994, Heritage Open Days has been making history and culture more accessible for more than 30 years. Last year over 2,350 organisers and 41,700 volunteers ran 5,427 events across the country, attracting one million visits. Around one-third of visitors had not visited a heritage site/event in the past year while 82% of festival-goers said their visit made them more proud of their local area. There’s still plenty of time to get involved, local organisations, community groups and enthusiasts have until August 14th to register their events by visiting the Heritage Open Days website.
All events are listed at our events page individually here:
Who wrote this about Ipswich?
Sam Sherman
Sam is a Co-Founder of Ipswich.love. Passionate about Ipswich, Sam looks to see how we might jointly reverse some of the recent negativity and bring some deserved positivity back to our beloved Town.
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