Museums at Night Festival returns to Sussex in a week

Museums at Night, the UK’s annual after-hours festival of arts, culture and heritage, will begin on Wednesday 13 until Saturday 16 May.

Also, new for 2015, is a second two-day festival will take place from 30-31 October.  During the May festival, hundreds of museums, galleries and historic spaces all over the UK will open up late and put on a dazzling array of special night-time events.

From literary talks with some of the UK’s leading authors in the beautiful surroundings of Charleston House to exclusive music performances amongst the exhibits as The Great Escape Festival teams up with Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, sleepovers at the atmospheric Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard to life drawing at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, the Museums at Night festival offers the chance to experience culture and heritage in a totally unexpected way.

Some of the Museums at Night highlights in Sussex include:

EAST SUSSEX

· Charleston Festival – Charleston House, Lewes (May 15-16)
As part of the annual Charleston Festival, there will be several author events taking place for Museums at Night, including:

· David Nicholls and Polly Samson (May 15)
Alex Clark, literary critic and broadcaster, will be discussing the conventions of family romances with David Nicholls, author of best-sellers Us and One Day and Polly Samson, whose most recent book was the lauded story collection, Perfect Lives. She is also a lyricist for Pink Floyd. More here

· Author Antonia Fraser in conversation with Jon Snow – Her History  (May 15)
Antonia Fraser turns her biographer’s eye inwards and mines her early years to explain her development as a celebrated narrative historian. More here

· Monty Don in Conversation (May 16)
Inspirational gardener, broadcaster and writer Monty Don is in conversation with Observer writer Kate Kellaway, discussing his career. He is the lead presenter of BBC’s Gardeners’ World, which is broadcast from his home, Long Meadow in Herefordshire. He is also the main presenter for the Chelsea Flower Show. His latest series for the BBC, The Secret History of the British Garden, is due for transmission in 2015 and includes scenes shot at Charleston. More here.

· The Great Escape Museums at Night special, Brighton (May 16)
See the gallery spaces transformed by a series of exclusive acoustic performances from a whole host of artists hand picked by Europe’s leading festival for new music, The Great Escape. Limited tickets are available, so book now – you might just catch the next big thing!
18+. More here.

 

WEST SUSSEX

· The Museum at Night – Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton (May 15-16)
At 9pm, join a guided walk through the museum site, stopping to visit some of the houses and discover how people living there in the past would have lived during the hours of dusk and darkness. How did they light the dark? What did they do in the evenings? What did the darkness mean to them?
Not suitable for children. More here.

· The Body: Life Drawing and Dance – Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (May 14)
To celebrate the Leon Underwood: Figure and Rhythm and Drawing the Nude exhibitions, Pallant House Gallery presents a late night opening of activities based around the theme of the body, including life drawing and interpretative dance performances. Music in the courtyard will accompany special dining options in The Pallant Kitchen.
Any Age. More here.