A Good Start to Museum Night

On March 5th was the tenth edition of the annual Rotterdam Museum Night. Forty-five galleries and museums threw open their doors from 8pm until 2am, many with special activities designed just for the night. Tickets went on sale at the beginning of February but these were no ordinary tickets. For €13.50 you got a pin-on badge complete with a blinking light which worked as your entrance ticket as well as letting you board the special Museum Night bus and Museum Night boat, specially arranged to transport you in style to the different venues throughout the city.

Museum Night is not only a great way to see several museums for a cheaper price but it is also a mini-street party where you are one of the many VIP guests. Fellow party goers can easily be identified not only by their blinking entrance badge but also via their gold moon necklaces and plethora of other blinking devices handed out by museums, galleries and street performers alike. The pancake, butter and powdered sugar smell of poffertjes, crepes and Nescafe coffee float through the night air, as the sounds of musical performers electrify your eardrums.

And what can you see? Here is a small selection of some of the places you could visit in 2010:

Pindakaasvloer

• The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen was again a popular destination. No doubt the recent arrival of Wim T. Schippers “Pindakaasvloer” played a part in bringing in the guests. You could even enjoy a peanut butter sandwich while listening to a harmonica band.
• The Nationaal Onderwijsmueseum was open to adults and children alike. Visitors could learn the words to the Feyenoord football club song, have a ten minute hair styling and enter a competition by naming the Rotterdam locations from ten close-up photos.
• The beautiful Laurenskerk was open for visitors and even had a performance by the Klaaswaals Symfonisch Blaasorkest.
• Scheduled tours were available for the Huis Sonneveld. Tour group sizes were limited and only available every half hour so you had to be quick to get in.
• The Mariniersmuseum offered guests the opportunity to go from visitor to marine in ten steps.

For more information visit the Rotterdam Museum Night website. A limited number of tickets are available on the night at a higher price but they usually sell out quickly. So, if Rotterdam Museum Night sounds like an event for you, make a note in your agenda for next year.