History Week 2025 image designed by Amanda Wells, Programs Officer, HCNSW, with Canva Pro elements.
Theme: ‘Water Stories’
Water is fundamental to life. It also underpins our histories.
From floods to droughts, from oceans to creeks, rivers and wetlands, our pasts are bound up with the ebbs and flows of water.
History Week 2025 will engage with stories of how water was cherished, contained, diverted, contaminated, looked after and shared, or withheld.
The theme invites History Council members to dive into their water stories.
- What happens to communities when water is absent or when it is destructive? How did people in the past use water to travel and trade?
- How do waterways connect, or disconnect, communities?
- How important is water in cultures of sport, fishing, and play as well as the economy?
From the caring for water practices of First Nations people to non-Indigenous transformations of creeks and rivers, and the building of dams, there is an abundance of histories of water waiting to be ‘tapped’ and told.
Registrations will open in early 2025
Benefits of registering for History Week 2025
Registered History Week events will appear in the Events Calendar on our website (there is also a button top right hand side of this page). Events will be incrementally uploaded after they have been received – but don’t wait until the last moment! We want our members to have adequate time to promote their events, using our calendar.
Follow us on Social Media to see your events promoted!
Tag us in your event promotions too, for a bigger audience.
What type of events can be staged in History Week 2025?
History doesn’t only happen in archives, libraries and books. Very often we need to go out in the field and get hands-on to connect with different sources, stories and audiences.
History Week 2025 : where you are.
Members are invited to stage online or in-person events. As we have seen over the last few years, our members embraced online event production and have also been staging in-person events, as health authorities have advised, in many cases increasing their audiences way beyond their expectations. If you want further information about how you can stage your event online, please visit our History Week Online page which provides a wealth of information.
For all inquiries about History Week 2025, please contact programs@historycouncilnsw.org.au
History Week flags, City of Sydney, 2024. Photo credit: Tim Harris, TWH Photography.
What is History Week?
History Week is the annual, state-wide celebration of History organised by the History Council of New South Wales.
What happens in History Week?
Members apply through the HCNSW to host History events relating to the annual theme. Previous events have included talks and lectures, ‘behind the scenes tours’ and heritage trails, exhibitions and radio features, podcast launches, film festivals, open historic houses and gardens, book sales and launches. Overall, there will be close to 100 events being staged throughout NSW in History Week 2025.
Key dates and events:
- History Week will commence on Saturday 6 September and finish on Sunday 14 September
- The NSW History Awards (an event run in partnership with the State Library of NSW) will be staged on Friday, 5 September by the SLNSW, in collaboration with the HCNSW.
Further details about event registrations will be found on our Events Calendar as they come to hand.
How can members be involved in History Week 2025?
You and your organisation can take advantage of the week and promote your organisation by hosting an event that you create, by participating (and sharing!) in events hosted by other HCNSW member organisations, attending the NSW Premier’s History Awards at the State Library of NSW, and the History Council’s Annual History Lecture. Your event will form part of the HCNSW’s media campaign and be promoted in the History Week 2025 Program Event Calendar on our website. If you record your event, we will also feature it on our YouTube channel.
Online solutions for events
There is no one type of mode that will suit all History Week events, but here are a few suggestions. They can be online or in-person, depending on your choice. We are happy to discuss options with you and provide information to help you achieve your goals if you contact us.
- In-person presentations or webinars of presentations via Zoom by or with local historians and/or those supplied to you through our Speaker Connect Program (1 hour suggested duration)
- Recordings of performers that can then be streamed from your website and/or ours
- In-person attendances or videos of exhibitions streamed from your website and/ours
- Webinar discussions with historians in a sister city anywhere else in the world
- Locally produced videos about Museums and their artifacts that tell local history
- Oral Histories, recorded and uploaded to your/our website, along with photographs
History Week events are open to public audiences. However, all organisations or individuals wishing to host a History Week event must be current members of the History Council of NSW. The History Council relies on the financial support of its members to deliver its annual programs.
Further questions about History Week 2025?
More information is available through our frequently asked questions to the right, or contact us at programs@historycouncilnsw.org.au.
Do I have to be a History Council member to participate?
What makes a successful History Week event?
- relate to or incorporate the History Week annual theme
- select a running time most appropriate for the target audience (for example, many students, full-time workers and young people are unable to attend events scheduled during the day. We advise hosts to consider running an event outside of regular office hours to attract wider audiences)
- select a format most appropriate for the target audience (for example a lecture, exhibition, interactive experience, online/in-person, etc)
- are well and consistently promoted at least one month in advance and across a variety of channels, in addition to the History Council of NSW’s online channels
- have a clear, concise and engaging event description, along with an eye-catching and relevant feature image, which entices audiences to attend
- include clear instructions on how attendees can book or register for the event, whether this be through an online booking system, or via a contact email or phone number.
What is the History Week event registration process?
Do you have a media pack and guide?
We have made a media pack available for our host organisations to assist in publicity. Download our logo, publicity guide and media release template below. Theme-specific artwork has also been added to the page and can be downloaded for the promotion of member events via the buttons above (History Week webpage banner, and social media tiles). HCNSW logo (jpeg 62kb) Publicity guide (pdf 172kb) Please contact us at programs@historycouncilnsw.org.au for assistance.
How does the Speaker Connect program fit into History Week?
History Week is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW
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