La Nuit des Musees
I don’t know whether this would really work well in any British town or City, or even if it can already be found anywhere in the UK, but I thought it is a great idea, and one that maybe a councilor in a small city might like to think about.
La Nuit des Museés, Museum Night, is an annual festival of sorts found in a number of European cities (although I am detailing the one in Lausanne, Switzerland here, others might work differently).
The concept is quite simple. All the museums in the city are open to the public, from early afternoon, throughout the evening until the early hours of the morning. In Lausanne this relates to 20+ museums open, ranging from natural history to photography through architecture to even the Olympic museum. There is a set price of 10CHF (approx £5), and for this you get:
- access to all the museums throughout the day - you can just drift in and out as you please.
- a snazzy tie - or whatever the organisers are using as ticket. This year you bought you tie at the first place you visit and then wear it all day so there are no queues or people asking for your ticket. Last year it was a dog collar!
- free public transport around the city - Lausanne is relatively small but built on a steep hill so if you choose to visit the Olympic museum first at the Lake, and the Fondation de l’Hermitage last at the top of Lausanne, you definitely need the bus! Also the Universities outside the city open there museums as well, so you can get the metro there and back free of charge. The buses, which normally finish at midnight, also continue to run until after the last museum has closed. You can also hire a bike free of charge for the day as well.
- participating bars and restaurant will give you a free drink at a bar or 10% off a meal at a local restaurant.
- extra events - either at the museums or elsewhere in the city, other events will take place, this year ranging from short films in one museum to sheep-shearing in the botanical gardens.
Could this work in Britain? It would be good if somewhere were brave enough to give it a try. The Swiss are, how shall we say, more reserved perhaps, than us Brits, which makes the night into a very convivial thing. It is popular with almost everyone, teenage groups, families, older people.
For reference, Lausanne is a town of around 120 000 people, probably on the scale of a large town or small city in Britain. Any brave councilors out there willing to open up the towns museums to the masses?
