“The Museum Night marks the beginning of summer every year, when the variety of nocturnal cultural events is enjoyed by about a quarter of a million inhabitants throughout Latvia; moreover, it is pleasing that year after year, the number of participants in this event tends to grow. This year, museums, public life-makers, and various institutions will open doors to visitors at more than 244 cultural sites, which is a record-high number of participants,” the Minister of Culture Nauris Puntulis (National Alliance) said.
The Museum Night program can be consulted on the website.
The theme of this year's Museum Night is “Creation,” including creativity, renewal, improvement of life and the ingenious transformation of various things, and knowledge and learning of skills. In Rīga and the vicinity, 57 cultural sites will be open to to visitors at night, while local governments, private museums, and non-governmental organizations are hosting interesting activities in 187 places outside Rīga.
As in previous years, Vidzeme promises to be the most active region in Museum Night with 73 cultured sites. In Kurzeme, there will be 60 sites, 36 in Latgale, and 18 in Zemgale.
Since 2008 (excluding the Covid-19 pandemic), the annual involvement of people in the night events of museums exceeds 200,000 visitors.
May is regarded as the month of museums in Latvia, as International Museums Day is marked in Europe on May 18, which was first announced by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 1977. Latvia has been celebrating this day since 1978.
