This year's Museum Night is shaping up to be an event of impressive scale. A familiar fixture for the city's residents, this cultural event has acquired renewed vitality and a more clearly defined identity. Its organisers, Estrada Poznańska and the National Museum, began inviting applications months ago from the participating institutions, which have embraced the task of curating the programme with notable creativity.

The line-up includes almost 40 museums, 20 art galleries, and numerous exhibition and educational institutions, among them the Zoological Garden, the Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre, the Academy of Music, the University of Arts, the Institute for Western Affairs, the Medical University, as well as the District Court and the Regional Police Headquarters. Admission to the majority of them will be free while a few others will charge a symbolic PLN 1 or PLN 2. As many of these institutions are not normally accessible to the public, Museum Night provides the only opportunity during the year to explore their interiors and observe what happens behind the scenes in their offices, studios, laboratories, and technical backrooms.

During Museum Night, the heaviest footfall is expected around the Old Market Square, where the highest number of museum attractions are concentrated. The National Museum, boasting the most extensive programme for the occasion, will participate alongside the Museum of Applied Arts, the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Town Hall - Museum of Poznań, the Museum of the Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918-1919, the Wielkopolska Military Museum, and - last but not least - the Archaeological Museum in the Górka Palace, which, under the theme "A Night with the Orient', will feature belly dancing and demonstrations of henna body art.

Don't miss the Museum of World Cultures, situated slightly off the beaten track on ul. Mostowa. This former Ethnographic Museum reopened a few months ago after renovation. While in the neighbourhood, make sure to stop by the adjacent Museum of the Poznań Bambers. There is particular reason to do so, as the exhibition "In the Footsteps of the Bambers' will open there at 6 pm on Museum Night, showing the work of urban sketchers in the surrounding neighbourhoods. The exhibition will feature the work of amateur urban sketchers who descended on Poznań last August for the 13th International Urban Sketchers Symposium. "These are not works conceived from imagination or based on photographs. Visitors will see depictions of Bamber girls, distinctive buildings and townhouses with a wealth of architectural details, as well as chapels and the museum itself along with its exhibition," notes Dominika Marciniak of the Poznań Bamber Society.

For many visitors, Museum Night provides not only a chance to revisit well-established institutions that have been part of the city for years, but also an opportunity to discover new venues that have recently cropped up in Poznań. Among these "newcomers", Estrada Poznańska highlights the Poznań Museum of Games and Computers on ul. Półwiejska, which will showcase more than forty interactive stations, including Elon Musk's first computer, alongside the Atari Museum at Osiedle Przyjaźni 132B in the Piątkowo district.

Meanwhile, the Poznań Museum of Digital Culture, based on ul. Błękitna in the district of Bonin (with its entrance on ul. Turkusowa), will celebrate its first anniversary during Museum Night. Other recent additions to the city's cultural scene include the Nisko Gallery (ul. 28 Czerwca 1956 r. 129A), the Wiele Sztuki Gallery (ul. Małeckiego 28), and the MoJA Jewellery Museum, located on ul. 27 Grudnia, directly opposite the Okrąglak building.

Those convinced they have already discovered everything Poznań has to offer would do well to visit the little-known and somewhat difficult-to-access Museum of School Surveying Equipment at the School of Surveying and Road Engineering on ul. Szamotulska 33. They should also check out the meteorites at the Earth Museum of Adam Mickiewicz University at ul. 10 Krygowskiego in Morasko, or swing by the headquarters of the Poznań Society of Friends of Science at ul. Mielżyńskiego 27/29, notable for its charming courtyard and fascinating collections.

And that is not all: the District Court of Poznań-Nowe Miasto and Wilda is offering guided tours and meetings with judges during Museum Night. At Enea Stadium, visitors will have the chance to see Lech Poznań players' changing rooms and step out onto the pitch. At the Poznań Fotoplastykon, they can view the stereoscopic exhibition "The World 100 Years Ago: Egypt" (open from 5pm to 10pm during Museum Night and set to close immediately thereafter). Given the immense wealth of additional attractions waiting to be explored on Museum Night, it is best to make sure you thoroughly examine the programme before leaving home.

Szymon Mazur

translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski

Museum Night  (Noc Muzeów)
16.05
For more, see:Museum Night website (available in Polish)

© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2026