It’s September and that means it’s time for Oldham Council’s annual Oldham Histories Festival and Heritage Open Days. This year’s festival runs from Friday 12 September to Sunday 21 September.
We have a packed programme for you this year, with walks, talks, open days and a behind the scenes tour of the new Oldham Archives. If you are curious about the history around you, this is your chance to find out more about the people, places, buildings and stories across the borough.
This year, we’re joined by old friends and new. Castleshaw Roman Forts are back, running two guided tours of the archaeological site. Oldham Theatre Workshop’s popular Town Centre Ghost Walks make a welcome return. Now that the refurbished Royton Library is open again, there are plenty of events happening there in partnership with Royton Local History Society. New partners this year are Billington’s Ballroom, Bar and Kitchen, who will share the history of their building at an art workshop, and 1853 Studio and Gallery, who are opening the doors to look around the studios of the artists, designers, photographer and crafters based in their buildings.
That’s just a small selection of what’s on offer. You’ll find information about all of our festival events in the HLA What’s On calendar under Festivals & Outdoor Events, including dates, times and how to book. You can also search for Oldham Histories Festival. Most events are free and drop-in, but some need to be booked.
If you don’t want to book online, contact the Oldham Archives team to ask a member of staff to book you a place.
The brochure is already out and available from your local branch library. From time to time, we need to make changes to the programme, so always double check on the Festivals & Outdoor Events page before you head out to your chosen events.
One change we’ve had to make is delaying the launch of the Where Are We Now? display in the new Oldham Archives. Oldham Archives is still a little way off resuming full service in its new location, and it hasn’t been possible to install the display in time for 12 September. Instead, the display will be on show once Oldham Archives is fully open later in the autumn. The Behind the Scenes in the Archive tour is still happening on Wednesday 17 September, but is going to be bookable instead of drop-in. We’ll be announcing more about this on our social media.
We hope to see you at some of this year’s events – enjoy yourselves!
