A night of art, culture and history

The annual cultural event "Night of Museums," will take place across European cities on Saturday May 19. The event is organized by a number of European cultural institutions allowing museums and art galleries to be left open to the public at night, often free of charge. The first event took place 10 years ago in Germany and has since expanded to over 120 European cities.

In Poland the first edition took place three years ago in the Polish cultural capital, Kraków, and has since become a very popular event with the youth and young adults in the city. In the past few years the event has been gaining increasing popularity in a number of Polish cities. This year the event will take place in Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Łódź, Poznań, Toruń and Wrocław.

In Warsaw, special old buses and closed tram lines will be commuting between museums and galleries the whole night. In the Polish capital, over 80 museums, galleries, and other cultural institutions will be open to the public between 7 pm and 1 am, free of charge. The museums will also have special programs, exhibition tours as well as theater, music and film sessions.

Some of the museums participating in the event in Warsaw include the National Museum, the National Archeological Museum, the Frederic Chopin Museum, and the National Ethnographic Museum.

The "Night of Museums" is approved and supported by the Council of Europe and last year 42 European countries and around 2,000 museums participated in the event.