If you’ve always fancied a bit of a Night at the Museum, you can soon re-enact it as museums and galleries across Britain unlock their doors for nocturnal adventures the weekend of 14-16 May.
Events range from spending the night in a World War II shelter to watching Victorian surgery by gas light in the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe. Museums at Night ties in with the European event of the same name (La Nuit des Musées) and promises to be a lot of fun.
Galleries and museums feel very different at night. It’ll be much quieter than during the day, without masses of tourists and hordes of school children romping around you.
There are adults-only events, like the paranormal ghost investigation and sleepover at Chatham’s Royal Dockyard, and a wide range of family-friendly events. You could watch military manoeuvres at the Royal Marines Museum, or try your hand at space and astronomy activities at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Norwich offers ghost walks and other events linked to its medieval past.
Or you can witness a surgery demonstration – you can even volunteer to be the patient – at the Old Operating Theatre, hidden in the roof of St Thomas Church near London Bridge, where in the nineteenth century amputations were carried out by gaslight in a speedy 27 seconds.
If the war rocks your boat, the Cabinet War Rooms are again offering people the chance to spend the night in their World War II shelter. In Weston-super-Mare, the Helicopter Museum will go back to the Blitz with air raid sirens sounding and giant searchlights illuminating the place, where over 50 flight simulators will link up to recreate a gigantic air battle.
For details of all venues and events, visit the Museums at Night webpage (www.culture24.org.uk/museumsatnight), where listings will be continually updated right up until the weekend itself. You can book by going direct to the museum websites (all the links are on the webpage). Some events are free.
Events with limited capacity like sleepovers are likely to sell out – last year the Cabinet War Rooms sleepover sold out weeks in advance.
