Entries open for Whanganui Heritage Festival’s Our Stories exhibition

The Whanganui Regional Heritage Trust and Whanganui District Council have organised an Our Stories exhibition for October's heritage festival. Photo / Whanganui Regional Museum

An upcoming exhibition to celebrate 100 years of Whanganui being a city needs local input, in the form of memories and stories about the places, people, clubs and groups that have been part of those 100 years.

The Our Stories exhibition is one of many events running during the Whanganui Heritage Festival, a 10-day event celebrating 100 years since Whanganui gained city status in 1924, said Whanganui Regional Heritage Trust co-chair Helen Craig.

The festival is a partnership between the Whanganui District Council and the Whanganui Regional Heritage Trust and Craig said both the council and heritage trust look forward to seeing the exhibition entries.

“We have so many fantastic organisations, and businesses in Whanganui that are also celebrating 100 years. The exhibition is a way to engage with the public and show the breadth of history here through stories from individuals, schools and organisations.”

During the festival, the War Memorial Centre will be filled with the stories in poster or video form for the exhibition, she said.

Bullocks Group Whanganui is one of the local businesses planning to share its stories in the exhibition.

“They’re celebrating 100 years in business this year. It’s a well-known company in Whanganui. I was talking to them and they said they’d love to be involved so they’ve put some promotion on the side of their new concrete mixer and have said they’ll put something into the exhibition as well.”

Craig said she’d love to include stories from local schools, churches, businesses and individuals.

“It would be neat to show the history of our schools and churches. It would also be great to tell the stories of our singers and sports people from back in the day, celebrating their story and successes.”

Whanganui has a rich history and it’s important to showcase it, she said.

“This exhibition is how we encapsulate and tell the stories of those buildings and Whanganui’s history. When the public sees this exhibition, it’ll help them fall in love with our heritage that’s worth celebrating. When people view the buildings, they often carry on but this exhibition will tell them more about those buildings and will show what we’ve achieved in the 100 years as a story.”

Entry details are all on the Whanganui Heritage Trust website, she said.

“We look forward to seeing all the stories that have made Whanganui to be what it is today.”

What: Whanganui Heritage Festival - Our Stories exhibition

When: Saturday, October 19 - Monday, October 28

Where: Whanganui War Memorial Centre, Watt St

Registration: Fill in the online form here and email it to here