Layers of Gold - Dunedin Heritage Festival

An exhibition at the former Bank of New Zealand building in Dunedin's Princes Street was part of the 2011 Dunedin Heritage Festival, Layers of Gold.

The Festival celebrated 150 years of the discovery of gold in Otago in 1861, and Dunedin's role as the gateway to the goldfields for thousands of goldminers. The Dunedin celebrations complemented those being held over Otago Anniversary Weekend in Lawrence at Gabriel's Gully, and the joint events included a tall ship sailing up Otago Harbour, a goldminer's tent city at Gabriel's Gully and the exhibition in the old bank building in Dunedin. The Festival had a major focus on the City's Victorian and Edwardian buildings.

The celebrations were piped in at 12.30pm in the Octagon on 18th March, and this was followed by a massed seven different choirs singing the National Anthem. The exhibition was opened that evening, and included the presentation of the annual Bluestone Award to Ann Barsby, founder of the Southern Heritage Trust.