Archaeology Festival Hits New Heights

The CBA Festival of British Archaeology 2011 has been hailed a huge success after more than 200,000 people attended 774 events across the UK.

Organised by the educational charity, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), people took part in walks, talks, hands-on activities, excavations and fun re-enactments.

And one of the Festival’s biggest supporters, and President of the CBA’s Young Archaeologists’ Club, Tony Robinson said he was impressed with the turn-out.

The presenter of TV’s Time Team said:

The amount of people who have participated in the Festival of British Archaeology is absolutely staggering.

The scale of the Festival’s popularity draws attention to the fact archaeology is a valuable part of our heritage and something that people are very keen to engage with.

This is particularly impressive because archaeology is under threat from a number of angles including reduced public funding, revised planning policies, heritage crime, and the impacts of climate change.

Plans are already in hand for next year’s event, which will take place from Saturday 14 to Sunday 29 July 2012.

Tony added:

The success of the Festival is something to build on and I look forward to what next year’s event will bring. However, I’m sure that lots of people who came along to this year’s event will be taking a closer interest, and even perhaps participate more, in archaeology which can only be good for everyone.

Dr Mike Heyworth, Director of the CBA, said:

We have been very impressed with the number of people coming along to the events – many of which were arranged by volunteers – and the feedback we have had from them.

Such an enthusiastic response from people shows that there is a lot of interest in archaeology and many people believe we should be doing more, not less, to preserve our heritage for future generations.

People who want to become more involved in archaeology are encouraged to support the charitable work of the CBA and become a member See the CBA website for more details.

Young people can also get involved through joining the CBA’s Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC), the only UK-wide club for young people aged up to 17, who are interested in archaeology and history. See the YAC website for more details.

The CBA Festival of British Archaeology is supported by national heritage and conservation bodies such as the National Trust, English Heritage, the RSPB, Natural England, the National Parks and the British Museum, as well as the hundreds of societies, community archaeology groups, museums and universities that champion the history on our doorsteps.

Date for your diary: CBA Festival of British Archaeology 2012: 14th – 29th July