From late openings at the Hayward Gallery, V&A and Tate Modern, scores of smaller museums and galleries are putting on special events, tours and activities, including 50 or so showing the film Night at the Museum, courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.
Nuit des Musees, Saturday 19 May, will be celebrated in museums and galleries across Europe; last year some 3,000 museums took part. “It’s great that UK museums are joining in this celebration in great force this year”, said Liz Mackenzie, Co-Chair of MGM 2007.
In Bath, independent museums joined forces with the local authority for a week-long promotion which culminated in the late night opening ( a week early) on Saturday 12 May. This was well supported and despite wind and rain thousands of Bath residents and visitors made the most of the opportunity.
Ben Stiller leads the cast of Night at the Museum which features Rick Gervais as the Museum Director. It was filmed at the Natural History Museum in New York and the DVD of the film went on sale on 1st April. Some of the museums and galleries taking part in the special film show are listed below. More information will also be in the MGM Events Search as museums enter their events.
 |  | The V&A Museum. Courtesy the V&A |
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National museums and galleries are also planning to open late on this Saturday night, including the V&A and National Gallery. In Tyne & Wear Museums there will be a cultural tapas evening with transport to and from experiences at museums and galleries in Newcastle Gateshead. Pitt Rivers expect another full house for their popular event in Oxford. At the New Walsall Art Gallery there will be music from different cultures on each floor. Spooky tours abound and include the Horniman in South London, Milestones in Basingstoke and Belgrave Hall, Leicester.
Museums around the UK planning to show Night at the Museum include:
Cheltenham Museum and Art Gallery (film plus torch lit procession and a sleepover)
Thurrock Museum, Essex (a themed Dracula evening)
The Collection at Lincoln (staff in historical costumes)
The Judges’ Lodging at Powys (screening in the Judges’ Dining Room)
Manchester Museum
World Museum Liverpool
Discovery Museum Newcastle
Milestone Museum, Basingstoke
PM Gallery, London
Royal Armouries, Leeds
NCCL Galleries of Justice, Nottingham
Scottish Fisheries Museum, Fife
Swansea Museum, Swansea
Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum, NI
And many others…see events pages.
If you are organising a Night at the Museum event, please register on the www.mgm.org.uk website as well as with the European-wide promotion www.nuitdesmusees.culture.fr/inscription.
