Southland Heritage Month 2026 ~ Library Activities
Talks, Tours, Photos and More: The Invercargill Library’s Heritage Month Highlights including celebrating 20 Years of the Southland Oral History Project
Heritage Month Opening Event
Opening Event Sunday March 1st: Celebrating 20 Years of the Southland Oral History Project
We launched the start of Southland Heritage Month at the Invercargill Public Library with a celebration of 20 Years of the Southland Oral History Project, Ngā pakiwaitara tuku iho o Murihiku.
This event was held in the library meeting room and attended by nearly 60 people. Heritage South Trustee Jay Coote welcomed the audience with a karakia. He was followed by Heritage Month Project Manager Senga White, who offically opened Southland Heritage Month, outlining many of the up-coming events before introducing guest speaker, Dunedin-based freelance oral historian Helen Frizzell.
Helen reflected on her 40 year career in oral history, describing a number of projects that she has been involved with and she played some fascinating clips from oral histories she has undertaken over the years. Helen was a key person in the establishment of the Southland Oral History Project and has provided valuable ongoing advice and support. We were delighted to welcome her back to Murihiku Southland to celebrate this important milestone.
Helen’s talk was followed by an overview from Cathy Macfie, Chair, Heritage South, on the importance of the project in preserving Southland’s heritage and Project Coordinator Rosie Stather launched the updated 5-year strategic vision (2026-2030) for the project and stressed the importance of the mahi done by all the volunteers who have been involved with the project over the years. Alan Bryce, a former library Information Services Manager spoke from the floor about an earlier Southland oral History Project, which ran from 1997 to 1999, under the guidance of Colin Gray, and created a number of recordings that were lodged both in Invercargill and at the Alexander Turnbull Library.
The event was concluded by a karakia from Heritage South Trustee Jenny Campbell, who invited everyone to stay for afternoon tea and a slice of birthday cake.
Celebrating 20 Years of the Southland Oral History Project: Month-Long Events
The 20-year birthday of the Southland Oral History Project was also celebrated in two, month-long, library-wide activities for aimed at the whole family.
The first was a scavenger hunt that invited younger library patrons to hunt for pictures of Burt the Southland Oral History Project sheep interviewing other Southland idenities that were hidden around the library. Heritage South kindly donated a prize of a gift card for Invercargill Central for a draw from all the 105 entries received.
The second was an event that invited library patrons to “Remember when . . . .”. This event took place in the first floor study space and the ground floor lounge. Displays of photographs and newspaper articles of events from Southland’s near past prompted patrons to record their own memories of events and places on special 20th anniversary postcards. These postcards will be kept in our Community Archives. In the first floor study space patrons were also able to listen to extracts from the oral history collection of interviewees recounting events such as the Queen’s visit in 1954 and the 1984 Southland Floods.
Stories of Southland Kōrero
A series of four kōrero were held during Heritage Month in the library meeting room.
· Southern Steam F150 Restoration Thursday March 5th 5.30pm
Lindsay Buckingham presented an update on the Southern Steam Trust’s project to restore the 1881 New Zealand Railways steam locomotive F150. This event was attended by 31 patrons
· Bluff History Wednesday March 11th 12pm
Lloyd Esler as he talked about the history of Bluff from the research he has done for his forthcoming book. This event was attended by 26 patrons.
· Czech Globetrotter Bohumil Pospíšil in NZ Friday March 20th 5.30pm
Dr Martin Nekola described the remarkable story of Czech adventurer Bohumil Pospíšil (1902–1974). Pospíšil’s eventually settled permanently in NZ. This event was attended by 15 patrons.
· From Awarua Radio Station to Awarua Communications Museum Thurs 26th March 5.30pm Veronica Williams shared the story of Awarua Radio Station and its journey into the current museum. This event was attended by 12 patrons.
Anderson Park 100-year Celebration Saturday 28th March
Senga White and Rosie Stather attended the Anderson Park 100-year celebration (delayed from October 2025) on behalf of the library and Heritage South. Attendees were invited to share memories of Anderson House and Park on postcards created especially for the event. One hundred post cards were handed out and many were completed and returned on the day. These cards will be included in the Community Archives.
Senga White and Rosie Stather ~ Anderson Park 100-year celebration event
Educator’s Evening: Putting Together Your Local History Research Toolkit Wednesday 18 March 5:30pm-7pm
Katie Greene and Rory Duggan hosted an Educator’s Evening across the Library. The evening started with a PowerPoint presentation of digital research resources which can be accessed on the library website, followed by a tour of the 1st Floor and Archives. Educators were shown the local history collection, nonfiction books on local history, microfilm records and archive documents. This event was free to attend, and 2 educators participated in this.
Hillary’s Hut Virtual Reality Experience Monday 16 to Friday 20 March 10am-4pm
The Antarctic Heritage Trust came down to the Invercargill Public Library for 5 days, allowing people to try Hillary’s Hut Virtual Reality Experience. Participants were able to explore Sir Edmund Hillary’s Hut as it originally was. This activity was a follow up to Scott’s Delivery Hut Virtual Reality Experience, which was very popular for Heritage Month in 2025. Anne from the Antarctic Heritage Trust facilitated this experience for a second year in a row. This programme was held in the Meeting Room, although Anne suggested this could be moved to the Adult Lounge in future so that it is more visible to the public. This experience was free to attend, and 101 people participated over 5 days. The event was organised by Katie Greene.
Southland Heritage Month Lego/Minecraft Competition and Prizegiving Sunday March 1st 1.30pm
This competition was put together in collaboration with Alison Breese from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. Contestants were asked to recreate a Southland-based heritage listed building using either Lego or Minecraft. The competition ran over the summer, and the official prizegiving was held on 1 March in the Activity & Learning Space, right before the official Heritage Month opening. Overall, 22 people participated in this competition, up to the age of 16.