Get set for the 2020 Plymouth History Festival

The dates for next year’s Plymouth History Festival have been confirmed as Friday 8 to Sunday 31 May.

The popular annual celebration of the city’s heritage has been running for eight years. It’s coordinated by The Box and supported by Plymouth City Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Since the History Festival started in 2013 thousands of residents and visitors have taken part in hundreds of events, learning and discovering more about Plymouth’s history through talks, guided walks and tours, performances, family activities, exhibitions and displays. Celebrating Plymouth is always the central theme. In 2020 the programme will also connect with the city’s Mayflower 400 commemorations.

During the opening weekend the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Pirates Weekend Plymouth and the start of historic yacht race, the OSTAR (Original Single-Handed Transatlantic Race) will take place. Later in the month people will be able to see the start of ‘The Imagination Museum: Mayflower 400’ – a series of inspiring performances that use movement, text and music to explore the Mayflower’s historic journey.

Local organisations, societies and individuals can now submit their entries for the programme – especially for events that will take place from Monday 11 May onwards.

To submit an event either request, complete and return a booking form via museumevents@plymouth.gov.uk or send through the title, date(s), start and finish times, venue address, booking information, contact details and event description. The deadline for submissions is midnight on 31 January.

Councillor Peter Smith, Deputy Leader said: “The History Festival has been a big success each year and we’re hoping 2020 will be the best yet. We’d love some of the events to connect with Mayflower 400 and other related themes such as journeys, democracy, legacy, imagination, humanity and cross-cultural collaboration. There are other important anniversaries in 2020 that could provide food for thought too, including 75 years since the end of the Second World War, 80 years since the Battle of Britain and 125 years since the National Trust was founded. It will be great to see what everyone comes up with.”

A festival website will go live in 2020. In the meantime, you can stay up-to-date with news about next year’s event via Facebook and Twitter using @plymhistoryfest