Southland Heritage Month

A rich tapestry of diverse cultural tales awaits you during Southland Heritage Month.

Every March, Murihiku Southland comes alive with heritage happenings ranging from feature events, special korero, exhibitions, workshops, open days, tours, and all manner of other quirky happenings.

Discover how the region’s historical and cultural footprints have influenced and continue to influence lives today.

From wholesome and enriching harvest celebrations to pūrākau (cultural stories) to pioneering moonshining stories to vintage machinery demonstrations that surprise and delight.

Next event date: 1 March – 31 March 2025
Location: all over Southland
Keen to learn more: www.heritagesouth.nz

It’s a wonderful blend of annual favourites and an ever-changing menu of celebrations of our artistic roots, through to opportunities to sample tasty regional fare.

The month is curated by a passionate group of volunteers who steer Heritage South, a community organisation working to promote opportunities for heritage, encourage the retention of living heritage, foster goodwill and cooperation, and raise the profile of heritage.

Grab your walking shoes and explore the region with tailored tours, sample sumptuous pikelets with cream and jam at glistening high teas, or expand your horizons with fascinating heritage workshops.
   
Heritage Month embraces all those things inherited from the past that we wish to pass on to future generations - providing insights and definitions of who we are: our culture and character, our communities and our people.

It’s a month-long celebration and examination of our cultural identity, special places, landscapes, buildings and gardens, foods, art, stories, skills and practices.

Look up to see the ornate characteristics of our unique built heritage. These are so much more than buildings; they are holders of memories of lives lived by our forebears.

Heritage is objects, narratives, traditions, skills, places, wahi tapu, wahi taonga, and so much more. It tells us how we got to where we are today and can also be a catalyst for building a positive future.

It’s old-time dances and pop-up museums.

Murihiku Southland is a place with a rugged climate that has thrived, stood up for itself, suffered and lost, and been reborn—a place where people and their communities have punched above their weight with stories that resonate.

Southland and its main centre, Invercargill, hold strong ties to a bygone area, easily witnessed in the stunning Victorian and Edwardian architecture across the city centre, notably the Civic Theatre & Anderson House. 

There is a mass of heritage stories woven through the small towns that used to be home to bustling industries and significant settling spots, with several heritage trails showcasing these southern gems.

You might also like...