What is Living Heritage?
Traditions and practices that communities have passed down through generations are our living heritage, also known as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Living heritage includes folklore and performance, customs and crafts. Examples in the UK include bell-ringing, pantomime, highland games, dry-stone walling and wassailing.
The Living Heritage Inventories
UNESCO, the United Nations’ agency for strengthening our shared humanity through the promotion of education, culture and science, maintains a list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. As part of its commitment to ratifying UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the UK is creating inventories of living heritage. Think of these as a stock-take of the living traditions of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Understanding what living heritage exists, where it is, and who is practising it helps inform how we value and safeguard our cultural traditions.
The inventories are being created through an appeal to the public.
The Food Museum’s involvement
The Food Museum is championing food-related living heritage traditions – also known as ‘culinary practices’. We are the hub for nominating food-related living heritage to be added to the UK’s inventory.
Many of us are passionate about the living heritage of food and we’re keen to make sure that it is well-represented on the list. Whether you would like to nominate a regional recipe tradition, a unique cooking technique, a seasonal food celebration, or any other culinary practice, we’re here to support you.
How we can help you
As a Community Support Hub, we’re here to answer your questions and provide guidance throughout the submission process. We can help with:
We will connect nominations of similar living heritage practices, with the aim of avoiding duplication.
Get involved
Do you practise or know of a culinary tradition that should be celebrated and preserved? We’d love to hear from you. Please complete this initial form. It will be open until 18 January 2026.
We will get back to you to arrange support with your query.
If you would prefer to write to us via post, please send a letter to:
Living Heritage, Iliffe Way, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL
Other Community Support Hubs
The Living Heritage project involves several organisations across the UK which are providing support in different regions and categories. Whether your living heritage relates to folklore, crafts, sporting traditions, or any other category, there’s a Hub ready to help you.
Visit the main Living Heritage website to find the full list of Community Support Hubs and discover which one is best suited to support your tradition.
