The Long Night of Museums (or the Night of Museums) is a cultural event in which museums and cultural institutions in an area cooperate to remain open late into the night to introduce themselves to new potential patrons. Visitors are given a common entrance pass which grants them access to all exhibits as well as complimentary public transportation within the area.
The first Long Night of Museums (German: Lange Nacht der Museen) took place in Berlin in 1997. The concept has been very well received, and since then the number of participating institutions and exhibitions has risen dramatically, spreading to over 120 other cities throughout Europe, as well as elsewhere, in Argentina and the Philippines.
Lange Nacht der Museen in Berlin, and other cities of Germany including Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Munich, Hamburg, Kassel and Heidelberg/Mannheim/Ludwigshafen
Nuit Blanche in Paris, and La Nuit des Musées in France
Museumnacht event in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Coordinated long nights in Austria, Italy, and Liechtenstein, organized by ORF
In Switzerland long nights have taken place in Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen, and Zürich. Some Nuit des musées are also organized in Lausanne, Fribourg and Geneva.
Noc Muzeów in Poland, where the first edition took place in 2003 in Poznań in the Poznań National Museum; now over 150 cities and towns take a part in this event.
Múzeumok Éjszakája in Budapest, Hungary
"Night of museums and galleries" in Bulgaria, "The Night" has become a successful cultural product - emblematic for Sofia and Plovdiv - that attracts tens of thousands of visitors.
Museums at Night in the UK, including museums in Great Yarmouth
La nit dels museus in Barcelona
Noć muzeja in Croatia, since 2005, where admission fees to all venues are waived for the night.
Pražská muzejní noc in Prague, Czech Republic
Ночь музеев in Russia,
Noaptea muzeelor in Romania,
Noć muzeja in Serbia, since 2005
Muzeju nakts in Latvia, since 2005
Muuseumiöö in Estonia, since 2009
Noc múzeí a galérií in Slovakia
Ніч музеїв in Ukraine, since 2009
La Noche de los Museos in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where first edition took place in 2004. Since then, the number of museums and "barrios" (neighbourhoods) participating in the event has risen considerably. The 2013 edition featured 189 museums and cultural institutions that received more than 800,000 visitors.
Gabii sa Kabilin or Night of Heritage in Cebu, Philippines, started in 2007, first in the Asia-Pacific Region
The current all-night festivals trace their roots to several cities.
The first Long Night of Museums took place in the newly re-united Berlin in 1997 with a dozen participating institutions and exhibitions; since then the number has risen to 125 with over 150,000 people taking part in the January 2005 night.
It drew on a European heritage of all-night cultural events, such as the annual White Nights Festival, a long-standing cultural festival in St Petersburg.
The Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë took this idea in 2002 and spread it to culture more broadly, including performing arts, and under the banner of Nuit Blanche (White Nights, and various related names) the concept has spread around the world.
