Government restrictions in September meant that events could not go ahead in the usual fashion. We supported two local festivals to take their content online, and they rose the challenge wonderfully!
The festivals had amazing combined reach, engaging 270,000 individuals from over 40 different countries. You can see a highlight reel of the week’s activities, including glimpses of our Pilgrims Gallery birthday celebrations, below:
The two festivals had the theme of journeys to link in with our Mayflower 400 anniversary year, and featured all kinds of journeys: physical, spiritual and emotional. Several online events and activities were linked to the Pilgrim story, including tales from the Book Bench at Bassetlaw Museum:
And an extract from a children’s story from the Pilgrims Gallery as well, which explored the Mayflower’s arrival from the point of view of an indigenous person:
Anniversaries
On the 16th of September, it was 400 years since the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth and there was a lot of regional and national press coverage. Heritage Open Day posted a fun personality quiz inviting folks to work out what their role might have been on the Mayflower, which you can join in from here. In the evening, North Notts. Lit Fest marked the occasion by hosting local pilgrim expert Adrian Gray who talked about the rich history of rebellious faith in the region.
The week closed on the 19th September, which was one year since the Pilgrims Gallery opened! Restrictions meant we could not invite many people to celebrate with us in person, but we live streamed highlights of the day. During the day we: announced the winners of the Three Sisters Planting Competition; planted the pilgrim 400 apple tree in the Museum garden; heard from the winners of the Lit Fest competitions; and cut the Pilgrims Gallery’s birthday cake!