Guided tours, live shows, screenings, tastings... As night falls, more than a thousand museums across France wake up to offer visitors original and friendly artistic experiences as part of European Museum Night. See you on 17 May 2025 for the next edition.
A Night at the Museum: The Concept
Who hasn't dreamt of roaming the halls inside a museum at night to enjoy its collections in complete tranquility? The European Night of Museums allows you to come close to this dream. During this annual event, around 3,000 sites across Europe, including 1,300 in France, open their doors from dusk until around midnight, offering a program of activities centered around their collections.
An unmissable—and free!—opportunity for culture enthusiasts and the curious to discover new exhibits or revisit the great museums!
A look back at Museum Night 2024
Every year, museums offer visitors, young and old alike, plenty of opportunities to marvel at the multidisciplinary performances on offer.
In 2024, for the twentieth edition of European Museum Night, a diverse programme has been put together to celebrate art in all its forms throughout France.
With shows...
Performances:
- Aerial dance at the Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget, echoing the programming of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- An oud concert, offering a journey to the East, at the Museum of World Explorations in Cannes.
- Fantastical (and enchanting) equestrian displays at the Musée d'Arles Antique.
- A "bridge" between archaeology and cinema through an augmented reality immersion at the Lezoux Ceramics Museum.
- A dance and painting performance where canvases and movements harmonize at the Musée des Beaux-Arts La Cohue in Vannes.
Exhibitions:
- Dedicated to water sports at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.
- Exploring the mining world at the Lewarde Historical Mining Center, enhanced by performances of contortionists, equilibrists, acrobats, and jugglers.
- Delving into the world of sports at the Musée national de Céramique de Sèvres.
- Examining the intersection of design and sports at the Match exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, which will culminate in a performance combining music and theater.
Impressionist masterpieces to admire across France
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Impressionist movement, 34 museums in mainland France and overseas France are celebrating Impressionism with the loan of 178 paintings from the Musée d'Orsay, which boasts the world's largest collection of works by Impressionist artists.
Learn More:
By The editor
The editorial staff of France.fr follows the trends and news of destinations to bring you stories from France that reveal its innovations and traditions that make you long to (re) discover its territories.
