The Queanbeyan Palerang Heritage Festival is running from 9 April to 14 May, offering an opportunity to celebrate the unique history of our region.
Over 15 events will be held between Queanbeyan, Bungendore, and Braidwood to help our community preserve, enjoy, and learn more about heritage in our area.
Activities include a guided tour around Queanbeyan’s historic sites including the Queanbeyan Museum, a talk with a senior conservator from Endangered Heritage on how you can prevent the loss of valuables in fire or flood, and a presentation on the curious details and stories behind the mapping of the ACT and region.
Our celebration of the region’s rich history is part of the Australian Heritage Festival which is the country’s largest community-driven heritage event that has been running for more than 40 years. We have been celebrating this event in the Queanbeyan-Palerang region annually for most of this century alongside organisations of all sizes as we honour the past through a variety of exhibitions, events, and workshops.
Council’s Local History Librarian Brigid Whitbread is eager for the community to get involved in the Festival, assuring that there is an activity for everyone.
‘We are so excited to bring these events to our region and share our rich history with the community,’ she said.
‘This year’s theme for the festival is “curiosity” and we are looking forward to celebrating the wealth of heritage, social, art and culture that lives in the Queanbeyan-Palerang area through this lens.
‘I hope everyone will be inspired to be as curious about the fascinating history of our region as I am,’ she said.
Our festival runs alongside the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival and we encourage our community to explore the wide range of free and discounted events on offer.
QPRC’s Heritage Festival will be launched at 6:30pm on 12 April at the Queanbeyan Library. Come along to enjoy a presentation from Tim Adams as he shares his recent Honours thesis on Queanbeyan’s Riverside Cemetery.