Rosie Clarke, Culture24 Campaigns Officer and coordinator of the Museums at Night festival, explains what the bi-annual festival of after-hours culture is all about, and how towns and cities can benefit from connecting their arts and heritage organisations to offer a joint programme of after-hours events: a cluster. Forming a cluster can help attract locals and tourists into the town centre, boosting your after-hours economy and supporting a bid for Purple Flag status. There are many opportunities to collaborate with local businesses and retailers, and a wide range of ways of marketing your activities to reach new audiences.

1. Rosie Clarke
Culture24
Museums at Night
clustering

2. “Culture24 is an independent non-profit company
which exists to support the cultural sector
to reach and connect with audiences. ”

3. Editorial
•Articles
•Trails
•Reviews
•Previews
Data sharing

4. Biggest database of
cultural listings in the UK
6,900+ cultural venues
4,000+ events
1,500+ exhibitions
20,000+ listings each year
Venue-generated & sourced in-house

5. Museums at Night

6. Thebi-annualUKfestival
ofafter-hoursevents
inmuseums&galleries

7. Museums at Night seeks to
encourage venues to try something
different to attract new audiences.

8. We aim for every eligible cultural
venue to take part and a million
visits by 2020.

9. “This is a quote that can be inserted into
text columns at 16pt R0 G159 B227”
Museums at Night ran from Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th May and will
explode into life again on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st (Halloween) 2015

10. Museums at Night is about having an amazing night out in an unusual space -
like seeing your favourite band in an aircraft hanger full of WW2 bombers!

11. Or cocktails and craft at your favourite gallery

12. The public love Museums at Night: since 2009 673,000 visits have been made
by audiences to events designed to show culture in a different light.

13. Step into a new
world!

14. Bepartofarapidly
growingfestival
157
345
457
537
583
700
900
125
286
352
416 411
486
600
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (est)
Events Venues

19. 0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Museums at Night Visits 2009 - 2014
Visits

22. May vs October festivals
• Tourism “shoulder season”
• May – success in attracting domestic
tourists, take advantage of long evenings
• October – genuinely dark after hours,
likely to attract locals. Opportunities
around illuminations, ghoulish archive
history, adult events

25. 2015 Stats
650 events in May, 200+ expected in October
475 venues in May, 150+ expected in October
850 number of resources downloaded so far in 2015
350 number of hours spent supporting the sector on phone
160 number of museum/gallery professionals attending
participation workshops in Cambridge, Manchester, Bristol,
Canterbury and Sussex so far this year, another 150
expected to attend future workshops by end of the year.

26. MuseumsatNight
Reach & growth
• Website: 330,300 page views, 80,500 users (Mar 3 - May 19 2015)
• Email: 23,000 people on email lists (up from 10,000 in Dec 2013)
• Twitter: 10,000 followers (up from 1492 in Jul 2012)
• Events at over 230 UK locations

28. Monthly
national
consumer
release
Regional
monthly
Short lead
PR
17 July YES YES YES
7 August YES YES
Event registration deadlines

31. City clusters: increasing footfall
• Coordinate programming
• Animate public spaces
• Walking tours
• Offer transport between venues if
necessary
• Collecting stamps in “passport” over
weekend
• Alters how people perceive city

34. Cluster marketing opportunities
• Joint marketing offer
• Themed cluster – food, heritage,
anniversary, “Wonders”
• Share branding
• Visual aids e.g. glowsticks
• Share stories and press releases
• Strong suite of images

35. Cambridge cluster – photos of
target demographic at events

37. Showcasing
Manchester
music scene in
unexpected
venues

38. Tie-ins with businesses and
community groups
• Late openings of shops
• Tie in with local food and drink
• Experiential opportunities at events
e.g. fashion shows, performing arts
• Learning and skills development
• Discounts on dinner at restaurants

42. Potential pitfalls
• Must have buy-in from everyone
• Clear goals agreed e.g. KPIs, target
audiences
• Event details must be confirmed by
deadlines
• One main central coordinator
• Data capture, evaluation
• About resilience and legacy

44. Funding opportunities
• Grants for the Arts – if applying for
under £15,000, 6 week turnaround,
but must be artistically led
• Heritage Lottery Fund – longer
timescales
• Must be part of wider strategy

46. Museum
Town Square

47. 01273 623226 | MuseumsAtNight.org.uk | rosie@culture24.org.uk
Thankyou!