Theme year of Living Heritage 2023
There are many good reasons to celebrate living heritage next year! The theme of the European Heritage Days 2023 is living heritage. At the same time, the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage as well as Finland's 10-year long tenure as a member state of the Convention will be celebrated.
Living Intangible Cultural Heritage will be celebrated around the world next year! There are already 180 member states of the Convention and in all of them specific activities are planned for the festive year.
The European Heritage Days (EHD) will have the theme Living Heritage for 2023. EHD is the largest celebration of public events in Europe, with 20 million people attending each year in 46 different countries. This joint programme of the Council of Europe and the European Commission is also being implemented through the Young European Heritage Makers competition and European Heritage Days Stories project funding. In Finland, the European Heritage Days is coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment. This is the first time Living heritage is chosen as the theme for the EHD.
During the year of 2023, living heritage will be highlighted in a variety of ways in communication, events and funding. All actors in the wide field of living heritage are welcomed to raise the theme year as part of their own events and other activities. The Finnish Heritage Agency will provide communication support, social media templates and other tools to support the work.
The theme year is celebrated throughout the year, but the celebration will be focused on autumn. European Heritage Days are celebrated from 4 to 10 September 2023, but related events can be held throughout the year by enrolling them to EHD calendar. The 20th birthday of the UNESCO Convention will be celebrated on 17 October 2023.
For more information
Leena Marsio, Finnish Heritage Agency leena.marsio@museovirasto.fi 0295 336 6017
Hanna Hämäläinen, European Heritage Days hanna.p.hamalainen@gov.fi 0295 250 095
Coverphoto: Riina Tanskanen 2017. Phtographed at the Finnish Youth Association's Kalenat event.