Start planning for History Week 2012 - 21st to 28th October!

History Week 2011 was a fantastic success and we hope that you were able to enjoy the many Victorians who travelled back in time, discovering Victoria's wide and wonderful past.

From fascinating walking tours and engaging discussions, to exhibitions and "history in the making" events - there really was something in story for everyone to enjoy.

Have a look around the History Week 2011 website and read about some of the fascinating events held during the Week.

This History Week Victorians could:

• take a fascinating walking tour around Melbourne’s forgotten past, revealing its hidden histories of health and hygiene, right through to crime and punishment;
• watch an exquisite feature length documentary that recounts memories of Melbourne’s fashionable Collins Street through the perspective of its long gone couture houses and boutiques;
• take a spine tingling night time lantern tour at the Beechworth Gaol, uncovering the violence, executions and escapes that characterised the prison’s colourful history from 1856 to 2004;
• see St Kilda’s picture palaces of the past in a photographic exhibition that will take you back to the golden days of The Astor, The George, Paradise, The Lyric and Palais Pictures;
• visit the unique Bear’s Castle and discover why the building has kept historians mystified for years;
• dress up and act out scenes from Victoria's and Australia's history;
• don your hiking boots and unearth the history of the Melbourne Walking Club at an exhibition illustrated with hand drawn maps, lantern slides and old notes of its members;
• take a rare tour of our heritage listed Supreme Court building, hearing stories from the archives and discovering judicial robes and wigs;
• celebrate the Royal Australian Navy’s 100th birthday with a discussion on the important, and often overlooked, role of the Navy during the First World War;
• enjoy a guided tour of Mandeville Hall, unveiling the lavish interiors, history and architecture of one of Melbourne’s most significant nineteenth century mansions;
• follow the footprints of Lucy and Percy Pepper in a moving exhibition that tells the story of an Aboriginal family's struggle for survival in early twentieth century Victoria; and
• hear about the people and stories that make up the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s fascinating 163-year history.