A cemetery walk tour at night will feature as part of the Heritage Festival for the first time this year.
The walk tours, scheduled to take place this Friday (April 15), will add a new experience under the evening skylight at the Broken Hill Cemetery. Guided by
Heritage Festival secretary and local historian, Christine Adams, attendees will get to learn more about notable contributions made by former residents.
“I’m hoping that people will join us,” she said. “It’s always a learning aspect but to me, this is the most historical place in Broken Hill. “I have done my homework and I’m going to talk about everyone we see.”
The morning tour at 9am will conclude with a morning tea ahead of the evening walk that will begin at 7pm.
Tour guests will be led through the cemetery with lanterns and driven back to the starting point (on both walks) by a van provided by Experience Broken Hill, a sponsor of the event.
The earlier walk will be based on the story of unionism through the emblems on the graves while the night version will be about those who served the community.
“The morning walk has always been popular for the last four years we’ve had that. The numbers have built for those attending,” Ms Adams said.
“There’s a lot more people in this cemetery to see for people to understand what they’ve done for our community.”
The Sisters of Mercy, who taught many, nursed the sick and looked after orphans will be one of the stops on the tour.
Ms Adams said the tours will be conducted in a respectful way and encouraged people to come along for the experience.
“It’s all being done with great finesse and acknowledge it is Good Friday,” she said.
“Come along – you never know whether you like it or not unless you’re here.”
Each tour will go for a maximum of two hours. Organisers have planned something for attendees as part of the walk.
Ms Adams would like to see the event grow in the future and suggested the potential of hosting more walks during the year.
“I hope it is the beginning of great things,” she said. “Perhaps we might do it a few times a year for special occasions. The significance and information of this place are fantastic.”
To purchase tickets, visit Broken Hill City Council’s online event calendar or call 08 8080 3300.
