For the second year, ICOM will patronize the European Night of Museums, an event which announces International Museum Day in the spirit of an all-day and all-night museum week. The European Night of Museums will be celebrated on 19 May, 2012.

The European Night of Museums was created in 2005 by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. During a late-night opening, visitors can discover, for free, museums’ collections and all the special events organised for the festival. The Night of Museums aims to make museums more accessible to the general public and in particular to a new younger public and to federate a network of European museums around a common festive and friendly event.

In 2011, more than 4,000 European museums in 40 different countries participated in the Night of Museums.

The Council of Europe and UNESCO are patronizing the Night of Museums and the French Federation of Friends of Museums and the French Réunion des Musées nationaux (RMN) are institutional partners of the event.

© Création : Le Gentil Garçon avec le soutien de NEUFLIZE VIE Conception graphique : Christophe Naux