Festival of Archaeology – 2026

The annual Festival of Archaeology, coordindated by the Council of British Archaeology took place across the UK from Saturday 18 July to Sunday 2 August exploring the theme ‘Archaeology and Nature’.

English Heritage partnered with the CBA’s Youth Engagement team to co-host the festival’s annual Youth Event at Tynemouth Priory & Castle. A Youth Panel, including CBA Youth Advisors and EH Young Producers, designed and delivered the day with support from the EH Learning, Partnerships & Participation team and the CBA’s Youth Engagement team.

The Youth Panel designed a programme of hands on activities for young people aged 8 - 16 years.

With it’s headland location and history spanning 2000 years from evidence of a prehistoric wooden house, to the Romans, an Iron Age settlement, a medieval monastery, a Tudor military supply base and a coastal fortification from the 17th – 20th Centuries, Tynemouth Priory & Castle made the perfect place to connect with the 2026 festival theme. The youth panel focussed on developing a carousel of activities which would allow participants to explore different aspects of the site’s rich history and the skills used by archaeologists and conservation experts.

Activity programme:

Volunteer led site tours with hands on archaeology
Graveyard mapping
A textiles workshop – stripping fibres and cordage
English Heritage’s Conservation in Action Caring for Masonry activity

Each panel member took on a role to curate the day’s event programme, including project management, developing social media briefs, designing activities, facilitating on the day and developing and writing up the evaluation.

The event was advertised through the festival website and a call out was sent to the CBA network. It was booked up quickly and we were at full capacity on the day with 33 participants aged 8-16 years attending.

“Being a Young Producer on the Tynemouth event gave me the opportunity to get properly involved in how a youth heritage event is put together. I helped with the planning and logistics, worked on how the groups would rotate between the site tour, graveyard recording and textiles workshop, and took photographs and video on the day. I really enjoyed having that kind of responsibility, while seeing how the young people actually engaged with the site and activities. It was a really valuable experience and has made me want to keep looking for opportunities where young people can have a genuine role in shaping how heritage is experienced.” – Lucy, Young Producer

Feedback from the young people who attended the day highlighted enjoyment of exploring the site, the hands-on activities (rope making and gravestone rubbing) & learning practical heritage skills.

“The gravestone tour & the plants activity were really fun!” – participant

“Thank you so much for the opportunity for E to take part in the YAC at Tynemouth. He loved it!, that’s the first time he’s done anything on his own, its really helped his confidence and his nerves.” – parent/ carer

The day was a huge success and we’re hoping to continue to partner with the CBA to run more events like this in the future!

Check out other similar projects by clicking the links below

Festival of Archaeology – 2026

The Youth Panel designed a programme of hands on activities for young people aged 8 - 16 years.

Festival of Archaeology

Festival of Archaeology 2021

Festival of Archaeology 2023 (South East)