Full steam ahead for Wellington Heritage Week 2022

“2022 has been a year of change” says new Festival Director Alex Hockley, who took over from David Batchelor at the end of 2021. “While there have certainly been challenges, the heritage community in Te Whanganui-a-Tara has rallied once more to provide an incredible line-up of events for all to enjoy.”

This festival has over 60 events, more than ever before. To give visitors time to experience everything, the length of the festival has doubled to two weeks. Hockley notes “it’s a heritage fortnight now, but we’re saving a rebrand for later.”

Many events from past years are participating again, such as the “Talk and Tour of Wellington City Archives” and a variety of tours around Karori and Bolton Street cemeteries.

Exciting newcomers are joining the festival, such as “Urbantics – A Spy-themed Urban Adventure”, and “Path of the Artists”, a tour involving actors portraying historic people.

The festival is made possible through the support of long-running sponsors Wellington City Council (through the Arts and Culture Fund), Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and Hutt City Council (through the Events Support Fund). Sponsorship is also provided by The Heritage Practice, a business providing heritage advice for the sustainable management of the built environment. Hiamo, a company usually specialising in augmented reality applications for heritage, is managing the website.

Wellington Heritage Week thanks the many event hosts and other supporters who help its volunteer team deliver its offerings.

“The festival is this community; we only exist because of the contributions of the people, groups, and agencies of Wellington” says Hockley. “Thank you to everyone for your patience as we navigated covid, schedule changes, and a change of team members.”

For full details of events and bookings go to the Wellington Heritage Week website.

Also posted on Scoop.co.nz