March ​2024

Southland Heritage Month

Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate all things heritage in Murihiku Southland and discover how the region’s historical and cultural footprints have influenced and continue to influence our lives today.

Events are programmed throughout March around Southland, ranging from feature events, special korero, exhibitions, workshops, open days, tours and many other quirky happenings celebrating our diverse heritage. There are also two very special Heritage Month opening events at Murikihu Marae.

Many of the offerings that have become a staple of our annual calendar feature again, such as the Riverton Heritage Harvest Festival and, as always, there are lots of new temptations on the menu of heritage-related happenings this year.

This year, get snapping around the region and enter the Heritage NZ Photo Competition, or book yourself a seat for either a Sunday high tea or early evening canape & bubbles and hear about the history you can view from 360, the rooftop bar at the Langlands.

There is a special offering of lunchtime korero at the Invercargill Library, including talks about our early Invercargill mayors, Rev. Wohlers and the missionaries of Ruapuke Island. There are workshops around the region on protecting and preserving photographs and documents, new walking tours around Western and Northern Southland, and Mondays @Maruawai are back, including an update on the Herries Beattie collection digitisation project through the Hocken Library. The vast breadth of heritage highlights means there’s something for everyone, from celebrations and examinations of our artistic roots to opportunities to sample tasty traditional regional fare.

Heritage South is 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.

For the latest updates, follow the Heritage South Facebook page, and keep an eye out for Heritage Month brochures around the region.

Check out the full list of Southland Heritage Month in the calendar below!

Heritage by Region

Across the region, many fascinating museums preserve the stories, history and artefacts of our rich culture, landscapes and past. Southland and its capital city, 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. 

A celebration of our rich motoring history, Bill Richardson's Transport World in Invercargill shows how one man's passion turned into an interactive collection of over 300 vehicles. The experience in a word? Wow. 

One of New Zealand's gems, the Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre is tucked away at Mandeville in rural Southland. Here, the golden age of flight can be relived, and you can even catch a flight in a Tiger Moth! Or journey back to experience how early Māori and Europeans adapted to survive on nature's edge and live together at the Te Hikoi Museum in Riverton. Elsewhere, explore museums sharing boom-and-bust gold rush tales, natural and local history, rural farming life and more.

It's all waiting to be discovered.