The Museum of London will mark its closure at London Wall after 45 years with two spectacular free weekend festivals which will include DJ sets, London’s biggest table football competition, immersive theatre, and late-night cinema. For the first time in the museum’s history, it will remain open for 24 hours from Saturday 3rd December. This will allow visitors to come in throughout the night for a last chance to see its galleries and collections before it closes on Sunday 4 December at 5pm, preparing for its new home in West Smithfield.
The weekend extravaganza will open on 26 November with London’s biggest table football competition, inspired by the museum’s free exhibition Harry Kane: I want to play football and the 2022 World Cup. Visitors will be invited to compete against players from the Walking Football Association. Winning teams will be entered into a raffle to win a special Museum of London prize, which includes an England shirt and poster signed by Harry Kane. Winners will be announced on the museum’s closing day. This first weekend festival will also offer families lots of creative fun, with arts and crafts, face painting, a Baby Rave, theatrical performances, immersive tours, and pop-up musical performances to bring the museum’s galleries to life.
The second weekend (3 & 4 December) will allow visitors to move to London’s funky beats, exploring the capital’s greatest hits from five decades from music genres such as disco, punk, dub, and grime – from the 70s to present day. Sisu, a DJ platform showcasing women and non-binary DJs and producers, will perform live in the museum’s Ellipse Hall, where visitors can also see the museum’s free music display Grime Stories: from the corner to the mainstream. They will also be running an exclusive DJ workshop.
Night owls in the City will be able to visit the museum throughout Saturday evening and into the early hours of Sunday morning to get their culture fix. During a late-night film festival in collaboration with Film London, the museum will show films and host discussions that celebrate the city of London. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the museum’s galleries by night and see the treasures of its incredible collection charting London’s history.
The Roman Bucklersbury mosaic, Oliver Cromwell’s death mask, a sword belonging to Admiral Nelson, the Booth Map of Poverty, Selfridge’s art deco lifts, and a 1960s Beatles dress are among the rare and unique objects on show at the museum. Actors from the Walking Theatre Company will impersonate London’s historical characters, bringing the museum’s collection to life. Visitors will have a last chance to see these items, alongside the museum’s immersive pleasure gardens and Victorian Walk before the site closes.
The museum’s final day will be marked with closure celebrations inspired by the lighting of Thomas Heatherwick’s copper cauldron sculpture for the 2012 London Olympics – a symbolic passing of the flame from the museum’s past to the future and new home at West Smithfield.
London’s Greatest Weekends mark the culmination of the museum’s six-month programme of events, activities and displays celebrating its 45-year history at London Wall, including Black History Month, October half-term programming and a November special schools programme. Families will be invited to go on a Roman family walk through London and celebrate London’s Olympic history by creating their own Olympic torches, go on a sporting objects treasure hunt, and show their dance moves during a workshop with DashDotDance.
The museum will reopen at West Smithfield under a new name – The London Museum. It will welcome its first visitors to a festival curated by Londoners in late 2025 and open to the public in 2026. The Museum of London Docklands will remain open to visitors throughout and will become The London Museum Docklands from January 2023.
Sharon Ament, Director, Museum of London, said: “We have planned a fantastic party to celebrate the Museum of London’s 45 years at London Wall and I look forward to welcoming visitors old and new to mark the end of an era with us. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened our site in 1976 and we have enjoyed some fantastic moments here- whether that’s marking the History of the Coronation, the 2012 Olympics, the Cheapside Hoard, or Vivienne Westwood’s wardrobe. Over 21 million people have visited our galleries to find out more about this great city, its history, and its people. We’re looking forward to one final hurrah before we continue the museum’s next chapter in our new location at West Smithfield.”
Melissa Kains, Founder and Director of Sisu, said: “We are beyond thrilled to bring a soundscape of different musical eras to the Museum of London’s closing festival. Celebrating the work that the museum has done over the past 45 years, along with their venture to a new space is something incredibly special! London is the birthplace of our community and a place we call home. To be showcasing music in and from such an important cultural heart feels very exciting. With education being at the core of what we do, we are looking forward to hosting a DJ workshop ahead of the musical showcase – connecting with the educational aspects of the museum. See you there!”
