Competition time! Our friends at the SYHA Hostelling Scotland (that’s Scottish Youth Hostelling Association for those of you not in the know) have offered us a great prize of two night’s stay for two people in a private room at either their Glasgow or Edinburgh Central Youth Hostels. So, in order to get your mits on this great prize, we’ve come up with a little competition for you.

Simply upload a photo of you, your friends or family having a fun time at one of the many Festival of Museum events around the country. We’ll then have a look at them all and pick a winner – simple!

Now, a few conditions:

1. Your photo should be at a Festival of Museums event. In order to prove it, please include something with the logo on it in your photo – either the Festival of Museums logo, or logo of the venue you’re visiting.
2. Keep it clean people! Any photos deemed to be unsuitable will be removed and disqualified.
3. The photo should be fun, exciting or imaginative.

The winner will be the photo we feel best illustrates the fun, exciting or imaginative nature of the Festival weekend. Photos should be emailed to sort52add@photos.flickr.com and will then appear in our Flikr feed (www.flickr.com/FestivalofMuseums). Please include in the body of the email:

Venue where the photo was taken and event you attended
Your name & location
Your email address
(separate line) tag: competition2011

The competition closes on Sunday 22 May and a winner will be picked by Friday 27 May and notified on the homepage of this website as well as Facebook or Twitter. So – get snapping over the weekend and remember to check back to see if you’ve won! If you’d like us to contact you directly upon winning, please email your contact details to FestivalofMuseums@gmail.com

And now for the official bit:

SYHA Terms & Conditions

* Prize must be claimed by 30th June 2011 by making contact with the SYHA Sales and Reservations Team.
* Prize valid until 31st January 2012 and excludes July/August and the Christmas and Hogmanay periods.
* Prize subject to availability.
* Standard booking and T&C’s apply.
* SYHA Hostelling Scotland will not be responsible for any travel arrangements to or from the hostel of choice; travel must be arranged and paid for by the prize winner.
* Additional nights or people can be booked subject to availability and at cost to the prize winner.
* Continental breakfasts.
* Accommodation is in a private room.

Good luck!

A brand new festival for Scotland is just around the corner, taking place at over 70 museums and galleries, 13 to 15 May. The inaugural Festival of Museums will see a jam-packed programme of around 80 events taking place day and night across the country.

Museums Galleries Scotland, who is spearheading the festival, is working side by side with Culture24’s Museums at Night and the Europe-wide celebration, La Nuit des Musées, to place Scotland firmly on the international cultural map.

Festival of Museums features an eclectic and colourful range of concerts, talks, workshops, performances and exhibitions and many of the events are free.

Highlights from the Festival of Museums programme include the first performance in 4,000 years at Kilmartin Glen; military fitness at The Gordon Highlanders Museum; behind-the-scenes at Dundee’s McManus; a Gothic Food Fair at The Dick; and wartime aircrews reunited at Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum.

There will be Renaissance fashion at Trinity Apse, Brass Rubbing Centre; the world’s longest embroidery at Kirkcaldy Museum; smooth jazz at Low Parks Museum; a Fishtastic Festival at Timespan; Scotland’s funniest cartoonist at Stirling Smith Art Gallery; and Black Watch battle re-enactments in Perth.

Joanne Orr, Chief Executive of Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “The first ever Festival of Museums is a celebration of Scottish culture and all that is fantastic about Scotland, with events that explore our past, present and future. It highlights Scotland’s museums and galleries as great year-round visitor attractions with something for people of all ages to enjoy.”

Lorna Owers, Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, adds: “I would encourage everyone to put 13 to 15 May in their diaries and visit as many of the events as possible. There is an amazing, diverse mix of events taking place right across the country and it’s inspiring to see so many of Scotland’s museums and galleries working together.”

Full details of this year’s programme are available on www.festivalofmuseums.com

The programmes of all participating museums in the european wide celebration of museums has been launched. 

The European Night of the Museum or la Nuit Européenne des Musées takes place Saturday 14 May with 3000 museums in 40 countries across Europe hosting fun and facinating events into the evening and night.  The programme includes Festival of Museums events taking place in Scotlands museums and galleries.  The Festival of Museums will launch on Friday 12 May and events will continue right through until Sunday 15 May providing visitors with an amazing array of events to enthuse and inspire.

For more information on the European wide celebration of museums visit www.nuitdesmusees.culture.fr

Broadcaster, DJ and Museums at Night 2011 Ambassador Lauren Laverne was at the former Royal residence of Kensington Palace last week (March 30 2011) for the official launch of Museums at Night 2011. 

The nocturnal programme of cultural openings takes place during the weekend of May 13-15, the same weekend as Festival of Musuems, with hundreds of museums, galleries and historic properties opening their doors for special events and tours during the hours of darkness.

The Culture Show presenter said she was “absolutely thrilled” to be involved, predicting a vintage year for the campaign before warming to the nocturnal theme.

“What I love about the idea is that it is at night-time,” she said. “The human imagination is inherently nocturnal. We all think creatively and we’re all so much more open at night.

“I also think that night is the time when everybody is themselves. We’re not at work, we’re not being what we do, we are who we are, everybody is a kid again, everybody is receptive to new ideas and new experiences so I think Museums at Night is just a genius thing really.”

The presenter also highlighted the sheer range of events already planned for May – from ghost tours and art house film screenings in unusual locations to sleepovers and city-wide museum and gallery celebrations.

“Absolutely anything you can imagine is going to be happening, and of course our imaginations are going to be primed to accept it, which I think is wonderful.” 

The Museums at Night Ambassador later joined guests, including members of the Festival of Museums team from Museums Gallereis Scotland, for a sneak preview of what awaits visitors to Kensington Palace during the open weekend.

With the help of explainers and costumed characters, guests were led through the majestic Royal Rooms and apartments of the Historic Royal Palace for a special twilight tour of their acclaimed exhibition the Enchanted Palace. 

The interactive installation of mysterious objects includes dresses designed by Zandra Rhodes and Viviennne Westwood and gowns from the Royal Collection as well as giant puppets, enchanted forests and other weird and wonderful artefacts recalling the lives of seven Royal princesses.

Museums Galleries Scotland and Culture24 are working in partnership to promote Festival of Museums and Museums at Night.  Find out more about Museums at Night.

Scotland’s imagination ignited through cultural events
Scots called to rally their local museums

Breakdancers perform on Buchanan Street in Glasgow to launch Festival of Museums

Scots are being encouraged to ensure their local museums and galleries get involved with a brand new festival for Scotland, announced by Museums Galleries Scotland.

Festival of Museums will celebrate Scotland’s wealth of culture with day and night time events scheduled to take place from 13 to 15 May 2011. The festival promises to offer locals and tourists a range of cultural experiences that will ‘ignite imaginations’.

With the trend for holidaying at home remaining prevalent in Scotland, bucking the UK trend with a 16 per increase January to June 2010, Festival of Museums aims to provide a platform for local, regional and national museums to engage with people across the country. 

It will showcase the fantastic range of visitor experiences offered by Scotland’s museums and galleries through exciting and engaging events that offer something for all ages.  Festival of Museums deliberately coincides with key cultural events on the European arts calendar, including Culture 24’s Museums at Night.

Joanne Orr, Chief Executive of Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “Festival of Museums is about museums working together to celebrate Scotland’s culture while simultaneously highlighting to people how museums and galleries offer great-value days out, year round.

“We are encouraging as many museums and galleries as possible to get involved with what promises to be a fabulous weekend.  The events programme is growing daily and we don’t want anyone to miss out on taking part in this event which firmly puts museums and galleries in the spotlight. ”

Malcolm Roughead, OBE, Chief Executive VisitScotland adds: “We would like to see museums across the country working together to deliver this exciting project, which is sure to be a draw for visitors. The ‘staycation’ market is increasingly important and we will be promoting Festival of Museums through our marketing and public relations campaigns.”

Festival of Museums launch on YouTube

Museums Galleries Scotland represents over 350 museums and galleries across the country, ranging from small local museums to larger national museums. Grants to stage events are still available to eligible museums until the start of March and further information can be obtained from www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk

The Festival of Museums events programme will be announced in March on www.festivalofmuseums.com.

Breakdancers offered a taste of what's to come in May's Festival of Museums