Heritage Open Days

Sorry, you missed this one!
Sun 20 Sep

9am - 5pm : Across Norfolk

Heritage Open Days Family Friendly Free Festival Learning

Venues across Norfolk, Norwich, and the Broads

Norfolk Heritage Open Days Fri 11 – Sun 20 September 2026

Celebrate history and discover the unknown this September, for free! 

Norfolk Heritage Open Days

From hidden historic buildings and guided walks to family activities, exhibitions and talks, it's time to browse the brilliant free events taking place across the county this September. There are over 350 events taking place in Norfolk. Over 200 of those are drop-in, so don't worry if you missed out on tickets - there's still plenty of opportunity to join in!

Norfolk events

Norfolk Heritage Open Days (HODs) offers everybody the opportunity to explore buildings & places they may not have ventured into before, learn more about our cultural heritage and discover hidden gems not normally open to the public. 

All Heritage Open Days events are free for you to experience and enjoy. Due to limited capacity, some events must be prebooked.

Across the 10 days, Norfolk’s most loved venues and buildings will throw open their doors for everyone to explore, untold stories of our local heroes will be revealed, and the county’s unique history will be celebrated from city to coast. There's a range of activities and venues sure to delight all ages and knowledge.  

Many HODs events are drop-in and you can just turn up on the day, so there’s always plenty to enjoy.  

Heritage Open Days

Heritage Open Days (HODs) is England’s largest festival of history and culture and in Norfolk hundreds of participating venues, organisations, private homes and gardens throw open their doors for FREE to reveal and celebrate the very best of the county’s...

Discover Norfolk's hidden histories

HODs events at The Forum

  • Sun 20 Sep
    10am - 4pm

    Portraits of Life

    An extended collection of photographs by Jack Roberts of Norwich post World War Two, originally exhibited during HODs 2019.

    Heritage Open Days
    Free
    Exhibitions
  • Times vary

    Behind-the-Scenes at The Forum

    As part of Heritage Open Days, tour members will be guided around rarely-seen areas of the Millennium building, including the Auditorium, boiler rooms and Millennium Library Stacks Room, providing an insight to the building's history and operations.

    Tours
    Heritage Open Days
    Learning
    Free
  • 2pm - 3pm

    Norfolk Archaeological Trust: Past, Present and Future

    Join Fran Young for this free talk to hear about the beginnings of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, which celebrated its centenary in 2023. Part of the Norfolk Heritage Open Days festival.

    Heritage Open Days
    Free
    Learning
  • 2pm - 3pm

    Caroline Colman: The Creator of Wellbeing in the Workplace

    Join John Osborne for a free talk on Caroline Colman, delving deeper into the famous Colman family of Norwich. Part of the Norfolk Heritage Open Days festival.

    Heritage Open Days
    Free
    Learning
  • 11am - 12noon

    Jack Roberts: The Photographer Time Forgot

    A free, illustrated talk with journalist Derek James and photographer Bill Smith highlighting the photographs Jack Roberts took of his beloved home, the city of Norwich. Part of Heritage Open Days.

    Learning
    Free
    Heritage Open Days