The History Festival is an easy way to explore the 5 Ways to Wellbeing during May, with plenty of activities to help you be active, connect, take notice, keep learning and give. There are many events throughout the month that can help you with simple actions to improve your physical and emotional health.
Be active - Walk, ride or dance your way into history
Joining a History Festival tour allows you to see the world around you through a fresh perspective while getting outdoors and enjoying some autumn air.
From bike trails to walking tours, events in parks, tours through cemeteries and walks along the coast, the History Festival offers plenty of choices to get out and about throughout the program. Most tours in the program offer some way to get out and get moving.
This year, you can kick up your heels and try Scottish country dancing, take yourself on a self-guided bicycle tour of Adelaide’s churches and places of worship, or meander through time along our regional main streets.
Just some of the History Festival’s ‘Be active’ events include:
- Auld Lang Syne from the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, Sunday 1 May
- Adelaide’s CBD Early Automobile Manufacturing Sites: Walking Tour, Sunday 29 May
Connect – find new friends, start conversations, and discover SA’s regions
History connects us with our family, our friends, our community and our state. Through shared stories, interests and histories, we can bring that connection to life in May. Sharing your History Festival with family and friends can uncover new discoveries and bring new perspectives.
History can be found anywhere, in urban and rural towns, cities and suburbs, museums, libraries, beaches and buildings. This year’s festival will present events in almost every corner of the state from to Hutt Street to Hahndorf, from Port Lincoln to The Parade, and every place and city in between. May kicks off with the Barossa Valley History Fair so why not spend a day connecting with the fascinating history of one of SA’s great wine regions?
Other ideas to Connect include:
- Remembering Vietnam – 50 Years On, from the Army Museum of South Australia Foundation, Wednesday 18 May
- Conversations… Revisited from the Rain Moth Gallery, at the Waikerie Community Arts Centre, Sunday 1 May, every Saturday in May and Mondays from 2-27 May
- A Seaside Community from the Henley and Grange Historical Society, Sundays throughout May
- The Living Library, at Burnside Library on Tuesday 17 May
Take notice – Indulge your sense of curiosity and find what sparks your interest
The History Festival is a great excuse to slow down, look up and notice things around you and your local area, while browsing through the History Festival program can spark your curiosity in areas you never knew about before. Ever wondered about how books are bound? There’s a workshop for that! What about the history of electricity in South Australia? There’s a guided tour to tell you all about it. Indulge your interest in some of our state’s darker stories with More Wicked Ways performance in Willunga, the Ghosts and Ghouls tour from the City of Adelaide, or even learn about the Grand Embezzle-Off at the State Records of South Australia!
Events to spark curiosity include:
- Desert Lifeliners: Afghan Cameleers from the Old and New Ghan Train to Now, Friday 20 May
- Reimagining the presence and Voice of First Nations Peoples in Unley Sunday 15 May
- War Displaced Persons: The Polish Contribution to SA Tuesday 5 May
- Cast in Concrete: Italian Migrants and South Australia’s Building Industry Saturday 21 May
Keep Learning - Learn a new skill, challenge your thinking!
The History Festival offers many ways to gain a new perspective, open your mind to new ideas, places and people and discover something new.
If delving into local or family history is your thing, the History Festival provides around 30 classes, workshops and research facility open days to help you along your personal journey into the past. There are even online-only workshops so you can learn something new from the comfort of home.
Some ideas for learning new skills include how to use online platforms for family history, traditional weaving with the Southern Elders Weaving Group, scanning old photograph workshops and researching the history of your house.
Just a couple of the many workshops and classes to try:
- Introduction to Ancestry and Trove at the City of Tea Tree Gully, Monday 2 and 16 May
- Creative Ways to Write your Family History at the City of Playford, Monday 9 May
- Archives Open! at State Records of South Australia Friday 13 and Monday 16 May
Give – how can you give back to your local community or family and friends?
There are lots of ways to share and give throughout the History Festival. Book a ticket for a friend, share your History Festival program with family (or pick up a copy for them too!), or share your top picks by using the My Festival feature on historyfestival.sa.gov.au.
The History Festival doesn’t happen without many dedicated volunteers all over the state, so you can give by thanking them and sharing your feedback about the Festival and their event. The History Festival team would love to know what you think to! Email historyfestival@history.sa.gov.au
Some events for giving and sharing with our communities include:
- Mallala Museum: Margaret Tiller Gallery, every Sunday in May
- Kaurna Walk: Reimagining Reconciliation, Sunday 29 May
Check out the other History Festival content in WeekendPlus:
- Welcome to South Australia’s History Festival from Greg Mackie OAM, Chief Executive, History Trust of South Australia
- South Australia’s History Festival is back in 2022!
- Top picks in Adelaide city
- Top picks in regional South Australia
- North Adelaide FC celebrates 100 years
- Overland Telegraph Lines celebrates 150 years
- The Long Flight Home – SA’s Vickers Vimy
- Open Doors to History
- Family friendly events to explore together
- Get involved in the Penfolds History Hunt
- Competition: Win tickets to ‘Lockdown! How We Quarantined Before COVID’ tour