Doors Open Days invites us to fall in love with our city again - Donald Anderson

More than 100 venues across Edinburgh and East Lothian will participate in the free festival on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, offering everything from guided walks and family activities to rare behind-the-scenes tours.

Coordinated locally by the Cockburn Association, Edinburgh’s civic trust, the event provides an opportunity to look beyond familiar façades and discover more about the buildings, people and stories that have shaped the city.

This year’s theme, “Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine,” will explore how many historic buildings can be protected, adapted and given new life.

Doors Open Days is an amazing opportunity to see buildings and places that we normally wouldn’t get access to. I well remember exploring Liberton Tower for the first time having grown up near it and never having had to the opportunity to step inside. The views from the top were breathtaking.

Doors Open puts local people firmly at the heart of the city’s celebration of its built heritage.

It also demonstrates that access to heritage need not be expensive or exclusive: participation is free, while an expanded digital programme will give more people the chance to become involved from home.

Now in its 36th year locally, Doors Open Days began in France in 1984 and first came to Britain through Glasgow in 1990. It has since grown into Scotland’s largest free heritage festival, with more than 950 venues participating nationally last year.

Its continuing success reflects a deep public curiosity about the places around us. Opening a normally closed door can reveal extraordinary craftsmanship, forgotten history or an entirely new view of a familiar street.

Doors Open can strengthen the connection between residents and their city. It’s more than just a celebration of old buildings; it’s an invitation to understand, value and help shape Edinburgh’s future—and perhaps to fall in love with the capital all over again.