Every year, Culture24 arranges a weekend of late openings at many of Britain's museums and galleries. Museums at Night weekend has arrived once again, and plenty of London's museums take part. Here's an alphabetical list by date, for your convenience. Costs apply to some events, and you might need to prebook.
Friday 18 May
- Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, talks, prebook
- Bank of England Museum, tour and talks
- Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, talk on the history of Bedlam
- British Dental Association Museum, Marylebone, tour
- British Postal Museum and Archive, Finsbury, photography and a 'ludicrously brilliant photo booth'
- Brunel Museum, Rotherhithe, music
- Cartoon Museum, Bloomsbury, Edwardian evening
- Cuming Museum, Walworth, quiz
- Design Museum, Bermondsey, film and visual arts
- Dr Johnson's House, Fleet Street, candlelight talks and tour
- Faber Archive, Bloomsbury, tour, prebook
- Government Art Collection, Bloomsbury, prebook for a tour
- Grant Museum of Zoology, UCL, seduction-themed treasure hunt
- Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, talk about tattoos
- Hunterian Museum, Holborn, evening devoted to Thomas Wakley, founder of the Lancet
- Islington Museum, Islington, talk and walk to the Marx Memorial Library
- Keats House, Hampstead, bug hunt and guided walk, prebook
- Leighton House, Holland Park, recreation of the 19th Century
- London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, music, talk, entrance to new map exhibition
- National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Londonist quiz about the Thames! prebook
- Museum of London Archaeological Archive, Eagle Wharf Road, talks, tours, prebook
- National Army Museum, Chelsea, family activities
- National Gallery, Westminster, usual late opening, with live music
- October Gallery, Bloomsbury, curator talks
- Old Operating Theatre, London Bridge, have your leg amputated
- Osterley Park House, Osterley, tour
- Ragged School Museum, Mile End, talk from photographer
- Sir John Soane's Museum, Holborn, candlelit opening
- Somerset House, Strand, live music and tours
- Valence House Museum, Dagenham, an evening of ghost hunting
- Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, concerts
- Whitehall, Cheam, late opening
Saturday 19 May
- Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, talks, prebook
- Benjamin Franklin House, Westminster, candlelit performance
- British Museum, Bloomsbury, sleepover (limited availability)
- British Music Experience, Greenwich, talks
- Brunel Museum, Rotherhithe, cocktail party
- Cartoon Museum, Bloomsbury, Edwardian evening
- Government Art Collection, Bloomsbury, prebook for a tour
- Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Kew, pumping by candlelight (fnar)
- London Canal Museum, King's Cross, art and film in hidden places
- National Army Museum, Chelsea, family activities
- Old Operating Theatre, London Bridge, artist-led tour, prebook
- Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL, screening of Carry on Cleo and talk
- Pump House Gallery, Battersea, art of sport
- Royal Observatory, Greenwich (Sat), talks, workshops and planetarium shows
- Somerset House, Strand, live music and tours
Sunday 20 May
- Museum of Soho, Soho Hotel, short film screenings, prebook
See also, Ian Visits' pick of the best.
