Welcome to the Night!

NIGHT OF MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
following the success of the first issue again on

29 September 2006, Friday
from 6.00 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Extended programme + shows in partner city Stara Zagora.

The museums and galleries in Plovdiv and Stara Zagora will remain open in the evening of 29 September and into the early hours of 30 September celebrating a nocturnal arts festival in a format popular through-out Europe. 45 museums and galleries in the two cities will present a programme of specially prepared exhibitions, classical, folk and jazz concerts, DJ-lead parties, theatre shows, film and video screenings, artists’ performances and demonstrations, discussions, workshops, book launches as well as improvised art events. There will be no obligatory itineraries during the night – visitors will be able to choose their events from the Guide to the Night of Museums and Galleries. Everyone is invited to find out something new and exciting, something of their own. Admission for all events is free.

The Night’s programme is open for initiatives of the Friends of the Night – bookshops, restaurants and bars, foreign cultural institutions, who will participate with their own events.

In an effort to attract young people’s attention to the arts, this year the organisers have invited the museums and galleries in both cities to prepare a special programme of events for children – the Young Night of Museums and Galleries. Events in this programme will run from 6.00 to 8.00 p.m. on 29 September.

To facilitate movement between locations, a taxi company will offer rides at special low rates during the night. Several promotional beer bars will be built throughout the cities to keep the spirits up.

Throughout Europe the Night of Museums and Galleries is a landmark event for the host cities and tourists and visitors make their travelling plans around to be able to make the most of it. In Plovdiv, the Night is part of the cultural programme for the Autumn 2006 International Commercial Fair and a most eagerly anticipated event from the programme of the Autumn 2006 Salon of the Arts. This year’s edition is the Night’s launch in Stara Zagora. The programme is also part of the European Heritage Days 2006.