The 21st edition of the Nuit Européenne des Musées (European Night of Museums) takes place on May 17, with over 3,000 museums across France and Europe staying open from dusk until around midnight.
Museums will be welcoming visitors for free, showcasing their collections through temporary exhibitions, guided visits, musical entertainment, concerts, food tasting, tutorials, historical reconstructions and film projections, to create “a night full of surprises.”
The festival is organised by the Ministry of Culture and has been running since 2005. This year, the night will shine a particular spotlight on museums in rural areas of France, as part of the government Culture and Rurality Plan.
Participating sites include ecomuseums, museums of history and archaeology, and artists' houses.
“These establishments hold treasures that testify to the history of their territories, their inhabitants and their specific savoir-faire,” reads a government press release.
A “guide national des musées ruraux” will launch on May 13 to help visitors discover these rural museums. It will be published in the form of a web app developed by the Museums of France Service in collaboration with cultural organisation, GrandPalaisRmn.
Read also: ‘Paris proves people will happily pay for great art’
A selection of events across France’s regions
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Musée d'Allevard-les-Bains
At 21:00, the public can attend a performance combining tightrope walkers, music, poetry, puppets, bubbles and fireworks, presented by the Houle Douce company.
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Musée Gustave Courbet, Ornans
Participate in a guided fishing tour and aperitif from 18:00 - 20:45.
Visitors will travel through the landscapes of water and rivers that inspired Gustave Courbet, the ‘master’ of realism, and will take a fresh look at La Truite, Courbet's iconic painting.
Bretagne
Breton departmental museum, Quimper
From 20:00 to midnight, visitors aged seven and over are invited to experience a puzzling adventure on a mysterious island. By solving riddles and deciphering a treasure map, youngsters can try to solve the mystery as night falls.
Centre-Val-de-Loire
Musée Bertrand, Châteauroux
Primary school pupils from l’école Michelet are staging a play based on the script of the American film, Night at the Museum, applying it to the collections of the Musée Bertrand.
This project is in partnership with the Ministry of Education’s La classe, l’œuvre ! programme. It enables school classes and French museums to collaborate in developing projects which, during the European Night of Museums, have helped to attract family visitors.
Grand Est
Maison de Robert Schuman, Scy-Chazelles
Take a lantern-lit visit to the grounds of this famous house, wandering through ornamental gardens, a vegetable patch and a meadow from 18:00 - 23:00.
Hauts-de-France
Forum Antique de Bavay
From 18:00 - 23.30, costumed entertainers from the association La Nuit des Temps will be inviting visitors to enjoy a buffet based on emblematic recipes from ancient cuisine.
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore Roman archaeological reproductions of cooking, presentation and service equipment.
Île-de-France
Musée national Eugène Delacroix
Explore the secrets of Eugène Delacroix's creative process, from 17:30 - 22:00. A new exhibition will allow visitors to explore the stages of creation and to identify the differences between a painting, an original work, a copy or a reproduction.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Centre François Mauriac, Malagar
Experience a performance combining choreography, music and gastronomy from 20:30 - 21:30. The dancing dinner service will also involve 16 guests chosen at random from the audience.
Normandie
Les Franciscaines, Deauville
From 14:00 - 22:30, participants can enjoy a colourful Brazilian ball including concerts, shows, capoeira demonstrations, as well as percussion, samba and baile funk workshops.
Occitanie
Musée de l'Ephèbe, Cap d'Agde
Celebrate the museum's 40th anniversary from 21:00 - midnight. The public will be immersed in the year 1985, with DJs, flashy outfits, emblematic accessories, videos and archive reports.
Pays de la Loire
Musée Jules Desbois, Noyant-Villages
From 19:00 - 22:00, the Angers Urban Sketchers group will be encouraging the public to embrace their creativity. Visitors will be able to try their hand at drawing while surrounded by works by Jules-Desbois and François Chaillou on display in a temporary exhibition.
Provence Alpes-Côte-d’Azur
Musée d'Apt
A history-themed games evening will take place from 18:00 - 23:00, in partnership with the toy library and local association Apta Joue là.
Games will hark to the periods represented by the museum collections (Prehistory, Antiquity, Industrial History) and show how history can be an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
Find participating museums near you
A map reflecting all of the events taking place around France, complete with details on any special exhibitions or performances, is available on the culture ministry website.
Alternatively, explore the full programme below:
Note that the European Night of Museums is not to be confused with the annual night-time Paris arts festival, la Nuit Blanche, which will take place on June 7 this year.
Read also: ‘Nuit blanche’, and other expressions with the word ‘white’ in French
