Welcome To The First Ōtautahi Festival Of Archaeology

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and the Christchurch Archaeology Project are joined by the heritage organisations, archaeology companies and museums of Ōtautahi to offer a fantastic range of archaeology themed activities at Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House in honour of New Zealand Archaeology Week.

Try your hand at excavation, take part in archaeology themed activities and talk to archaeologists about their artefacts and work. Discover what it takes to be an archaeologist in this hands-on free family event.

The festival is free and open to families and archaeology fans of all ages. Dr Katharine Watson of the Christchurch Archaeology Project says, "This is a chance to bring along any questions for archaeologists about what they do, the things they find, as well as any questions about archaeology as a career."

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has art activities inspired by experimental archaeology. Make sure to wear old clothes as you might get dirty while practising your excavation skills. Canterbury Museum’s stall will be displaying hands-on collection items and testing your knowledge of middens. Pūtaringamotu Riccarton House & Bush have artefacts discovered onsite, and will be holding story time sessions, complete with magnifying glasses and explorer hats. Test your knowledge of key Māori sites in Ōtautahi via an activity linked to Ngāi Tahu Archive’s Kā Huru Manu online atlas. And bring your library card so you can check out archaeology and history books at Christchurch City Library’s stall.

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There will be professional archaeologists onsite from Christchurch Archaeology Project, Underground Overground and the Department of Conservation. They will be displaying artefacts discovered on recent excavation sites in central Christchurch. Touch and hold these taonga and find out more about what has been discovered under our city. You’ll also have the chance to try on real archaeologist’s gear and equipment.

Event organiser, Rosemary Baird, Senior Outreach Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, is excited about this new archaeology festival.

"All our partners have been so creative in coming up with fun ideas for the day. We also have a Junior Archaeologist activity booklet that kids can get stamped at each activity. Once you have four stamps you can create your own Ōtautahi Festival of Archaeology badge with Canterbury Museum’s badge making machine. Event sponsors Charlies are providing free juice pouches for all visitors."

Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House suffrage museum will be open to paying visitors between 11am-3pm. The National Portrait Gallery’s exhibtion Background Matters: Portraiture and Place in Aotearoa, is also showing onsite. Entry to the art exhibition is free.

To find out more about New Zealand Archaeological Association’s Archaeology Week visit the NZAA website : https://nzarchaeology.org/news-events/national-archaeology-week-2025

Event information:

Free ticketing: Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/otautahi-festival-of-archaeology-tickets-1322513305899?aff=oddtdtcreator

Date: 11am-3pm, Saturday 10 May.

Venue: Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House, 83 Clyde Road.

Cancellation policy: The event is under tent cover and will go ahead unless the weather is very bad. Check the Facebook event or Eventbrite listing for cancellation.

Cost: Free, koha appreciated.

Parking: There is no parking on-site. Free parking is available in the University of Canterbury's Arts Road carpark, which is a 5-minute walk from the property. Otherwise, take the 120 bus, which stops outside on Clyde Road.

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