On May 18, Museum Night is celebrated around the world, with cultural institutions remaining open until late evening or even overnight hours to offer visitors special programs.
This year, Museum Night celebrations will mostly take place on the weekend, on May 16.
We selected some of the most interesting Belarusian events both inside the country and abroad.
Events in Belarus are collected here.
“Museum Night at the NCCA” will take place on May 16 from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at 3 Nekrasava Street.
The program includes an art discussion, lecture, master class, artist talk, meditative session, and quest.
The event will begin with a lecture by art historian Alesia Inazemtseva, “Projection of Love: Eroticism in Art” (18+), devoted to sexuality in different cultures and historical periods. The second part of the lecture will take place directly in the halls of the exhibition “Forms and Shadows: Feminine.” There will also be an art discussion within the exhibition “Difficulties of Translation” with curator and artist Aleh Ladzisau, followed later by a meditative session.
The program is available here.
At the Centre’s other venue (47 Independence Avenue), “The Last Museum Night FARBA+NCCA” will take place. Visitors can expect a Belarusian-language puppet theater performance about Buratino, an immersive meditation tour with a tarot reader, nighttime quests with flashlights, a poetry tour in verse, as well as art quests, drawing with branches, and various tests.
The program is available here.
The museum is offering the program “Blue of Blue,” exploring the most mysterious color — a symbol of trust, depth, calm, and elevation. As the color of the sky and water, blue is associated with infinity, permanence, and the connection of times. It naturally evokes Belarus, the “blue-eyed” land of rivers and lakes, flax, and cornflowers. During Museum Night, visitors will not only talk about blue, but also try to feel and hear it.
The program is available here.
This year, the museum chose a space theme, and the program is titled “Star Hour.” Visitors are welcome from 5 p.m., when entertainment for children begins.
For the youngest guests, there will be a performance by Tatsiana Krytskaya, “The Timid Little Mouse,” and an interactive program by writer Katsiaryna Khadasevich-Lisavaya, “The Space Adventures of Vukhutsik.”
Visitors will also be able to participate in workshops on visual poetry, complete creative imagination exercises, and hear about poems that traveled into space.
The program is available here.
The museum invites visitors to the special program “Circle© of Time,” when the museum ceases to be merely a building and becomes a portal. The Circle© of Time stops for a moment, and the estate of Yakub Kolas comes alive differently — with music, dancing, silent cinema, and reenactments.
At the end of the program, there will be an author’s tour “Dreams of Yakub Kolas” led by chief curator and Yakub Kolas’ great-granddaughter Vasilina Mitskevich. This is a rare opportunity to hear living stories from someone who knows the room not from documents, but from family memories.
The program is available here.
The museum invites visitors to the interactive program “Evening of White Roses.”
The program includes a presentation of the temporary exhibition “Kupala House — 100!”, the quest “Ladies and Houses,” a fashion show by students of the BSU Department of Fashion Design, a screening of the first Belarusian feature film “Forest Tale,” and a master class in social dances by the group “Treasury of Traditions.”
The program is available here.
The park will host the interactive journey “Hunting the Dragon.”
“On the banks of a magical river stood the Grand Duchy of Sula. There were neither wars nor hunger in that land because people there possessed happiness. It lived in every household — in children’s laughter, in quiet family evenings, in prosperity that came naturally.
But one day, the Dragon arrived…
…gray and silent like fog. And he began collecting happiness. First one smile, then a warm word, and finally he dragged all happiness into his cellar, turning it into gray ash.”
The program is available here.
The “Rustles of Old Courtyards” program will include a unique reenactment of ancient purification rites, mysterious rituals linked to folk magic, a contemporary fashion show inspired by folk traditions, an evening bonfire gathering, and dancing until deep into the night to retro disco hits.
The program is available here.
The palace will host a theatrical animated экскурсия with quest elements, “Ancient Mysteries of Niasvizh Castle.” This is not just a walk through the halls, but an exciting adventure. Participants will solve the mysteries of an ancient archive, search for missing letters, and complete tasks set by ancient characters. Visitors will encounter the inhabitants of the castle, listen to music by the piano trio “Trio Time,” and enjoy riddles, secrets, discoveries, dancing, prizes, and much more.
In addition, the palace courtyard will turn into a real festival space featuring a children’s play area, a video spinner for creating video clips, “living statues,” and the opportunity to try on historical costumes. The legendary ensemble “Kharoshki” will perform on stage. The main highlight of the evening will be the artisans’ fair.
The program is available here.
On May 16, 2026, Mir Castle will open its doors to all lovers of history, music, and theater. As part of International Museum Day, the castle complex will host a series of bright and emotional events transporting guests to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The program includes a historical costume show, dance master classes, a puppet theater performance, a chamber guitar concert, and a themed photo exhibition on the restoration and revival of the castle.
The program is available here.
The official opening of the “Magic of Shakespeare” event will take place at the New Castle.
Guests can also expect quests in the Old Castle and numerous engaging workshops. Florists will teach visitors to create romantic flower arrangements to take home as souvenirs of the magical night. Actors will share secrets of stagecraft. Restorers will demonstrate how artworks damaged by time are revived. Fantasy lovers will enjoy the lecture “Mythical Creatures in Heraldry.” The magical night will conclude with an instrumental project.
The program is available here.
The gallery will host sales exhibitions of works by Belarusian artists, the opening of Nadzeya Mantsevich’s (Viciebsk) textile exhibition “Botanical Print” (the artist will also conduct the workshop “Second Life of Plants”), and the fashion show “What the Years Whispered to Me,” featuring the artist’s original “Boho”-style models created using eco-print techniques.
The full program of the National Polatsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve is available here.
The theatrical excursion “Shadows Come Alive in the Darkness” (6+) will tell the story of the origins of Belarusian writing and book printing. Visitors will learn to write with quills and typeset text. From the darkness of the centuries, shadows of those who contributed to the appearance of books hundreds of years ago will emerge.
The program is available here.
“Museum Night at the Town Hall” will take place on May 15 from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The program includes the historical quest “500 Years of Mahilyow Castle,” the quest “Secrets of Mahilyow Cuisine,” a presentation of the historical project “Centuries in Minutes,” a costumed tour of the “Magdeburg Mahilyow” exhibition, visits to the clock mechanism and observation deck, evening film chronicles “The Tsar’s Headquarters in Mahilyow,” exhibitions, and a concert program.
The program is available here.
The palace presents the program “ART-Circle” — a journey from the past into the present, a look not at art but into art, and an exploration of what lies at its foundation. From a choreographic performance combining elements of national culture with modern plastic imagery (directed by Valiantsin Isakau) to cymbal melodies in the Column Hall that resonate in the deepest corners of the soul; from creative searches through endlessly changing forms (sand artist Yury Ptashynski) to timeless folk cultural constants. From ornaments on ancient ceramics to allegorical multilayered compositions by 21st-century Belarusian artists — everywhere one can discern the code of national identity, and every “art” reveals something eternal, native, and traditional.
The program is available here.
The gallery will celebrate Museum Night on May 22.
The “Sweet Museum Night” project will begin with an exhibition of chocolate paintings and original photographs by Maryna and Aliaksandr Halouchenka. The celebration will continue with the “Sweet Pictures” competition, a joint project with radio station 107.4 FM, in which participants can create paintings from sweet ingredients. Finalists will then compete in a culinary duel, creating masterpieces from provided ingredients within a set time.
The program is available here.
Museum Night here will be celebrated on Saturday, May 23, with the event “Yurya’s Horse Ran Wild.”
The fiery rhythm of the Year of the Horse has merged with the feat of Saint George, whose feast day falls in May. These two symbols — one from the East, the other from the depths of centuries — inspired museum staff to create the unique atmosphere of this year’s Museum Night.
The program is available here.
The Museum of Free Belarus project “Bagpipes: Music of the Past and Present” has been included in the program of Warsaw Museum Night 2026.
Organizers promise visitors an introduction to the Belarusian bagpipe tradition — from the instrument’s history to live music and workshops.
The program begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, with the opening of the exhibition “Bagpipes: Instrument, History, Symbol.” The exhibition will present the bagpipe as a cultural symbol and part of Belarusian heritage.
At 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., author-led tours with Yauhen Baryshnikau — musician, researcher, and teacher of the Belarusian bagpipe tradition — will take place. Visitors will hear stories about the instrument, its meaning, and performance traditions.
From 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the “Bagpipe Workshop” will be open, where visitors can learn about the process of creating bagpipes and try themselves as musicians.
The program will conclude with an open-air bagpipe concert starting at 11:00 p.m. and lasting until 2:00 a.m. Belarusian and Polish bagpipers will participate. Organizers promise live music and dancing under the open sky.
Warsaw’s POLIN Museum invites young people aged 14-19 to spend Museum Night together in an unusual atmosphere.
The event will take place on Saturday, May 16, from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. (with an option to stay overnight and share breakfast at 9:00 a.m.).
The evening will begin with creative sound experiments. After the workshop, there will be dinner, and once the museum closes to visitors, Kinga will lead an author’s tour of the permanent exhibition. It promises to be a unique experience unlike a traditional museum visit. Participants will encounter the exhibition through movement, silence, flashlight beams, and the creation of their own soundtracks for different exhibition spaces.
The evening will conclude with a film screening and overnight stay at the POLIN Museum Educational Center.
Special mats will be provided, but participants are advised to bring a sleeping bag or blanket, pillow, and comfortable clothing.
Morning activities and a shared breakfast are also planned.
The event will be held in Polish.
The program is available here.
Museum Night at the Ivan Luckievich Belarusian Museum in Vilnius (20 Vilniaus Street) will take place on May 23. At 6:00 p.m., the exhibition “Transition Line” will open, featuring works by artist Malgazhata Dmitruk, in which the author embroiders the memory of Podlasie onto fabric together with her own memories.
The program will continue with a lottery of artworks. Visitors will have the chance to win art lots for a donation.
The program also includes an artisans’ fair, a chamber concert, the creation of a time capsule for the next Museum Night, and a tasting of nalewka liqueurs (20+).
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