Auckland Heritage Festival 2015

The Auckland Heritage Festival is about to begin again. The region wide festival starts this Saturday, 26 September, and runs for the subsequent two weeks until 11 October. This year’s theme is “The iwi, people, kōrero, and stories that shaped our region, Tāmaki Makaurau”.

Ref: 2015 Auckland Heritage Festival logo.

This is a large collaborative effort organised by Auckland Council and events are being run at many libraries across the region. Events include walks, talks, exhibitions, workshops and entertainment.

Once again the Heritage and Research teams here at Auckland Libraries are involved in the Festival. The West Auckland Research Centre is involved with a lot of events. Archivist, Erica O’Flaherty, is presenting a talk on how to care for your family archives as well as a workshop on searching in Local History Online. Local history librarian Raewynn Robertson has curated an exhibition of F. Douglas Mill’s aerial photographs.

Ref: F. Douglas Mill, Refugee camp in Nelson Park, Napier, February 1931, West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, FDM-0671-G.

Also presented by the West Auckland Research Centre are a photograph exhibition of New Lynn’s burnt-clay industry and a display of West Aucklanders who served in the First World War.

Staff from the North Auckland Research Centre are giving a tour of the Rodney collections held there, while Sir George Grey Special Collections have the Pūtahitanga exhibition running over the duration of the festival.

Local historian Bruce Ringer from the South Auckland Research Centre is giving a talk on peace churches and how they have changed after different conflicts New Zealand has been involved in. Bruce has done a lot of work on Auckland area war memorials and rolls of honour which we’ve been running as an occasional series on this blog.

Ref: Thorpe Studio, Second World War memorial plaque, 4 October 1958, photograph reproduced courtesy of Pukekohe Library, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 03109.

Local historian David Verran, from the Central Auckland Research Centre, is giving a talk about Devonport Ferries as well as hosting two tours of the Symonds Street cemetery. If you can’t make these times we have an audio tour that you can listen to in your own time.

Ref: Henry Winkelmann, Captain William Hobson's grave at Symonds Street Cemetery, 30 July 1913, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1-W1389.

This is a great way to learn more about the region and areas in it that have significance to you. As a recent arrival I have booked into a few events in the area around where I’m living and I’m looking forward to them.

Author: Andrew Henry