Between the 13th and 15th May, hundreds of museums and exhibitions will open their doors for special events during the depths of the night right around Britain.
The concept describes itself as an “annual after-hours weekend celebration of arts, history and heritage”, which in essence means there’ll be loads of things to do for kids and adults, most of which are specially designed to take place only on this weekend.
Examples of events include:
- You could go to Arnos Vale (Bristol’s necropolis) with the “Night at the Cemetery” guided tour in Bristol which takes a torchlight tour of the customs and funereal traditions of the Victorians which is suitable for children 7+.
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be hosting one of the largest events with their “Late Shows” which involves a free culture crawl around Newcastle-Gateshead, linking more than 25 cultural hot spots.
- Not to be outdone, Liverpool will put on “Light Night” with over 50 events including drop-in art workshops and a candlelit labyrinth which also co-incides with the city’s first international photography festival – Look 11.
- If you’re a knowledge buff, why not pit your brains against those at the Hunterian Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields where you can take part in the buried rivers and long-gone museums quiz.
It’s not just big museums and places taking part. In Cornwall, the Newlyn Art Gallery will be trying to create and print an entire book in just 12 hours.
We can’t promise there’ll be dinosaurs wandering the halls or miniature Indians recreating some famous battle, but who knows what happens when the doors close and the lights go out in Britain’s museums…?
For everything going on, see the Museums at Night 2011 web site (part of Culture 24).
More UK Resources:
Museums and other attractions in the UK
Hotels in Britain
