National Heritage Week 2023 : Living Heritage
12 -20 August 2023
This year’s theme invites you to explore the traditions and practices, knowledge and skills passed down through generations.
National Heritage Week celebrates Ireland’s cultural, built and natural heritage.
It brings together volunteers, community groups and heritage enthusiasts to share their experience, knowledge culture and practices.
Organise an Event or Project
National Heritage Week 2023 invites you to explore the traditions and practices, knowledge and skills passed down through generations.
This year with the huge interest in digital heritage projects, the Heritage Council invites individuals, communities and organisations to develop Heritage Week in-person events and/or digital projects.
Theme for National Heritage Week 2023
The theme for National Heritage Week 2023 is Living Heritage and organisers are asked to consider the following when planning their activities:
Living Heritage: An invitation to organisers to consider how we can conserve our rich living Heritage including the practises, pasttimes, skills that are passed between generations. How can we connect with the skills and traditions of the past and pass them to the next generation?
Have a look at our News section for some event and project ideas under each of these headings.
If you are organising an in-person event, consider the following questions: What is the goal of the event, i.e. what would you like your audience to learn or experience? What size audience will ensure the best experience for attendees? Is your event sustainable – are the materials you use environmentally friendly, are you sourcing as much as possible from your locality, how do people get there? Is your event welcoming to diverse audiences, including those new to heritage or new to your community? For more information on organising successful events, please visit our News section.
If you are creating a digital project, the results of your project should be presented in a format that can be shared widely, for example an online talk or exhibition; a video; podcast or oral history recording; a PowerPoint presentation or blog; through your community’s or organisation’s newsletter; via an interview with a local radio station or newspaper; or through a dedicated website or social media account. Visit our Resources pages for tips and tricks for digital projects.
Events and projects can involve developing something new, or revisiting a heritage project or research into an aspect of our heritage that you have already worked on.
How to organise an event
If you would like to get involved as an event and/or project organiser, here’s how!
1. Register as an organiser
Click here to create an organiser account and log in to the Organisers' Portal. Once you’re logged in, tell us about your event or project.
If you organised a National Heritage Week project for 2023, your sign-in details from last year will still be valid.
2. Submit your event or project
Once you have registered as an organiser you will be able to submit your event or completed project through the submission form in the Organisers’ Portal. Projects and events should be submitted to the National Heritage Week website before National Heritage Week begins. Events and projects completed during National Heritage Week have until Tuesday, 23rd August to submit their outputs. If you would like your in-person event to be considered for promotion locally by your Local Authority Heritage Officer, the deadline to submit your information is Wednesday, 6th July.
Before you submit your project, please read and consider our project policy.
3. Enjoy National Heritage Week!
National Heritage Week will take place from Saturday 12th - 20th Sunday August 2023. Have fun exploring Ireland’s heritage and be sure to share what you learn with others!
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