The Yorkshire Heritage Summit held in Hull over the weekend of the 11^th & 12^th May 2024 attracted hundreds of visitors from across the region in a celebration of Yorkshire’s history, landscape and culture.

The weekend event supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund was the biggest Heritage Summit yet with volunteers from Yorkshire’s many heritage organisations exhibiting at a Heritage Exhibition inside Hull Minster, which also hosted a full day Heritage Symposium with guest speakers.

The main event on the Saturday was opened by Cllr Kalvin Neal – Lord Mayor of Hull & Admiral of the Humber, who welcomed visitors to the historic maritime city. The event also saw the awarding of the Harry Gration History Prize won this year by Andrew Barnes for his research on School Medical Services in the East Riding.

Phil Bell, from organisers The Yorkshire Society commented about the events success, “the Yorkshire Heritage Summit offers heritage organisations large and small, a chance to connect, network and collaborate with each other as well as an opportunity to meet, educate and engage with the general public. The event in Hull has received wonderful feedback from attendees and exhibitors, and celebrated Yorkshire’s wealth of diverse heritage.”

At the Yorkshire Heritage Symposium, attendees were able to hear presentations about The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s “Chalkshire” Project, the vision for a proposed UNESCO Geopark in The Yorkshire Wolds and a talk about The Distinctive Culture & Heritage of the East Riding.

Throughout the day Hull White Badge Maritime Guides ran free guided walking tours and a large Heritage Market was held outside Hull Minster where sunny weather attracted large crowds. To end the first day, local maritime folk band Spare Hands performed a special concert in the historic Sailmakers Arms to an enthusiastic audience.

The Sunday saw a number of well attended longer guided walks and tours including The Great Yorkshire Wolds Discovery Bus Tour and a Hull Rocks – a Hull Geology walk.

Off the back of this year’s event, The Yorkshire Society are already planning for 2025 and any heritage organisation no matter how large or small who maybe interested in taking part should contact heritage@theyorkshiresociety.org