Step back in time as Plymouth hosts its 7th annual History Festival

Britain’s Ocean City, Plymouth has unveiled its exciting programme for the 2019 Plymouth History Festival. The annual celebration of Plymouth’s heritage is now in its seventh year and will take place across the city, in a range of venues and locations between Saturday 4 May and Friday 31 May 2019.

The festival, which is coordinated by the City Council’s Museums Galleries Archives service, features special events, family activities, talks, tours, music and performance events as well as exhibitions and displays. The 2019 festival will be celebrating Plymouth with the additional themes of ‘Empowerment, Journeys and The Great Outdoors’

Talks will explore topics such as ‘Nancy Astor – The Woman is sure to get in’, ‘New Perspectives on Cook’s Voyages of Discovery’, ‘Plymouth under siege: Plymouth in the Civil War’ and ‘Sailors, Scoundrels and Scandal, the Extraordinary Stories behind the owners of Buckland Abbey and Saltram House’.

If you’d prefer to experience Plymouth on foot or by water there’s a host of different events to sign up for. These include garden tours, bridge and Blitz walks, boat trips and the chance to view some of the city’s most historic locations including The Elizabethan House, a tour of Plymouth’s historic Jewish Synagogue and Commonwealth war graves walk and talk.

For lovers of music and performance you can listen to a piano, organ or string recital, or try your hand at creative writing and poetry workshops. Plymouth’s iconic lighthouse Smeaton’s Tower will be transformed when Falmouth University Academy of Music and Theatre Arts perform the specially commissioned work - ‘The Keeper of the Light’.

This year’s festival also has a number of family events including Pirates Weekend, Plymouth,  Children’s Treasure Trails, Living History Group demos and History Explorer workshops.

Full details of the programme are now live at www.historyfestival2019.wordpress.com