Nearly 200 museums across Estonia to open their doors for Museum Night

TALLINN – This Saturday at 6 p.m., dozens of museums and heritage institutions across Estonia will open their doors late into the night for this year's Museum Night, an event led by the Estonian Museums Association.

This year's theme is "Voices in the Night." Additionally, seven special bus routes have been established to make it easier to travel between museums in different parts of Estonia.

"Voices in the Night" is a highly meaningful, poetic, and layered theme. Museums have always been places for listening and reflection, where different eras, voices, and perspectives converge. Every voice matters, whether it whispers, shouts, or echoes across generations. This year's theme offers a chance to explore who we listen to and hear, and who we don't, as throughout history, voices, stories, opinions, and experiences have been intentionally or unintentionally silenced.

"Museum Night reminds us every year that museums are not just keepers and preservers of collections, but also places where very different stories, experiences, and perspectives can be heard. This year's theme, 'Voices in the Night,' invites us to ask whose voices are heard in society and whose tend to be overlooked," said Anu Viltrop, executive director of the Estonian Museums Association. "Museums play an important role in making the experience of culture accessible to as many people as possible."

"We are delighted that 198 different museums and cultural institutions have joined the program," added Hannele Känd, project manager for Museum Night. "It's wonderful to see that the museums' enthusiasm has not waned and the desire to open their doors on this special evening remains strong. Museum Night brings together small private collections and large heritage institutions, all sharing a common spirit for the evening. From Kihnu to Narva, from Valga to Hiiumaa – almost everyone can find a Museum Night event on Saturday."

Museum Night is a long-standing tradition that takes place once a year on a Saturday evening in May. On this night, museums and other heritage institutions open their doors later than usual for a symbolic price of one euro to celebrate the pan-European Night of Museums. The Estonian Museums Association has been organizing the event since 2009, which was the first time it was held nationwide. This is the 17th time the association has organized Museum Night.

This year, a key focus of Museum Night is the bus service, taking visitors out of the cities and from one museum to another. Seven tours or bus routes will operate in Harju, Pärnu, Ida-Viru, Lääne-Viru, and Viljandi counties. These routes provide new opportunities to discover smaller, community-based museums that might otherwise be hard to reach.

Museum Night is organized annually by Estonian museums in cooperation with the Estonian Museums Association. The theme of the first event was "Things in the Night," followed by "Stories in the Night" in 2010, "Treasures in the Night" in 2011, "Cinema in the Night" in 2012, "People in the Night" in 2013, "Stars in the Night" in 2014, "Music in the Night" in 2015, "Waves in the Night" in 2016, "Games in the Night" in 2017, "Party in the Night" in 2018, "Patterns in the Night" in 2019, "Time in the Night" in 2020, "Dreams in the Night" in 2022, "Movement in the Night" in 2023, "Freedom in the Night" in 2024, "Books in the Night" in 2025, and "Voices in the Night!" in 2026.

Last year's 16th Museum Night, held under the theme "Books in the Night" and inspired by the Year of the Estonian Book, attracted over 66,000 visitors.

More information about the participating heritage institutions, event programs, bus routes, and more can be found on the website muuseumioo.ee.