Meet the Team Behind the Festival
A team of six volunteers are the busy hands behind Wellington Heritage Week 2021. Their roles are to curate and promote the festival’s programme, support event hosts with building their events, and administer the festival’s day to day tasks. Read this blog post to get to know the team behind Wellington Heritage Week 2021.
Henry Buckenham, Festival Coordinator
Henry joined the festival in early 2021 and has been the force behind the food offerings in this year’s programme – check out Dinner & Discussion at the Green Parrot with food historian and lecturer David Burton, and Heritage Beer & Quiz at Waitoa Social Club. After working in an antiques shop, a wine bar, and as a butcher in Melbourne, he moved to Wellington to start the Master of Museum and Heritage Practice at Victoria University of Wellington. He is a self-confessed fan of the Wellington Museum.
Clemence Galot, Festival Coordinator
Clemence is the author of the fortnightly newsletters and our go-to for website maintenance. She joined the festival team in early 2021 after chatting about all things heritage in Midnight Espresso on Cuba Street. Through her keen eye for detail, the festival has included more events and streamlined its registration and application processes. She holds a Master in Public Policy from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, commonly called Sciences Po.
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Alex Hockley, Festival Coordinator
Alex Hockley is a Wellingtonian through and through and helps us coordinate with community organisations and businesses. He spent his childhood in Lyall Bay and now lives in Newtown. His interest in heritage started when he was a child as his grandad shared stories of scrapping the Wahine after it wrecked in the Wellington Harbour. You may have seen Alex with his company Hiamo in the festival’s previous years. Hiamo creates augmented reality experiences for heritage sites – check them out here https://www.hiamo.nz/.
Brittany Jacobsen, Premium Experience Team
Brittany curates the premium experiences in this year’s festivals, such as the Brewtown Upper Hutt Brewery Tour and Wellington’s Halloweird and Wonderful Ghost Tour hosted by the Fear Factory Wellington. She also runs our Instagram and Facebook pages. Brittany recently moved to Wellington from Auckland and has presented research at conferences on Classical Studies. She is studying for a Master of Museum and Heritage Practice at Victoria University of Wellington.
Millie Burton, Premium Experience Team
Millie also curates the premium experiences in this year’s festivals and is often the creative-mind behind our social media posts - see her work on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Her interest in heritage started early by reading the Horrible Histories book series, which details the gory and odd tales of history through comical stories. She also volunteers at the Katherine Mansfield House & Garden and holds a degree in History, Media Studies, and Philosophy. She is pursuing a Master of Museum and Heritage Practice at Victoria University of Wellington.
David Batchelor, Director
David created the festival five years ago to support the heritage sector and reach new audiences. Since then, he created the independent Wellington Heritage Week Trust under which the festival operates. He manages the festival’s strategic direction and relationships with community organisations, local councils, and national organisations like Heritage New Zealand and the Department of Conservation. He is an Urban Planner by trade and is completing his PhD on local government heritage policy at Victoria University of Wellington.
The Wellington Heritage Week team would like to thank all the event hosts in this year’s festival. These community groups, individual heroes, and other organisations tirelessly share the people, places, and stories of the region and we are grateful for their involvement.
Please continue to support your local community organisations by attending their events and registering as members of their organisations.