Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage Program

Our Cultural Heritage Program celebrates the cultural diversity, history and heritage of the City of Whittlesea through a variety of informative events, cultural festivals and tours, and takes place between May-November each year.

The program is developed in partnership with community and special interest groups to provide opportunities to collectively celebrate our:

• Aboriginal heritage
• Built heritage and early European history
• Environmental heritage
• Rich personal and cultural heritage 

For more information about our Cultural Heritage Program phone 9217 2174.

Community Comforter

Are you tired of connecting online and missing creating something analogue? Tired of looking around the house at piles of unused ‘stuff’ and ready to put it to good use? You can create a small piece of textile art and contribute to our Community Comforter.

A mosaic of woven and stitched pieces created by community will be sewn together by a local artist to create an artwork to grace community centres in the future, reminding us of the ways in which we are connected, even in isolation or at a distance.

We connect with others when our creativity comes together!

Googling grandparents

Many older people in our community have lived through difficult times or events similar to those we are experiencing now. Reading or hearing stories, may offer an insight into how people have navigated experiences in the past, giving us hope and ideas for life during COVID-19. 

Our Googling Grandparents project aims to collect and share those stories. Children, grandchildren, carers, interested friends or community members, are invited to ‘interview an elder’, record their story and send it to us to post online for others to enjoy.

Share your video or audio recording with us:
• Click on https://bit.ly/2VRmgPx or type it into your web browser
• A drop box folder called Elders Stories should open and invite you to upload your file.
• If this doesn’t work, email your video to ConnectingCommunity@whittlesea.vic.gov.au

Collaborative Cultural Dance

Dance like you’ve never danced before. Be a Bollywood star, shake your booty to Mutuashi the Congolese dance of Freedom and connect with Country in Bik Ngarra.

Join our online classes in Bollywood, Mutuashi and Aboriginal dance, and learn some sensational new moves. Learn the routines and upload a video of yourself and become a star in the collated clip.

Designed for all levels of fitness, these classes give an exciting insight into world dance. Classes will be released weekly on a Thursday.

Start dancing now.

Autumn 2020 events

Our Cultural Heritage Strategy 2015-2018

Our Cultural Heritage Strategy features a series of objectives and actions that guide us as we protect, celebrate and preserve the rich history and heritage that exists within our municipality including:

• Aboriginal scarred trees that date back thousands of years
• the Wendish German settlement around Ziebell's Farm
• the Lutheran Church and Cemetery in Thomastown
• post-World War 2 housing associated with the Peter Lalor Home Co-operative
• Turner's Bakery in Mernda
• and plenty more