Experience

ANTWERP | Record 12,000 visitors attend 20th Museumnacht

Posted by Timothy on

A record-breaking 12,000-plus people visited museums and cultural venues across Antwerp during the 20th edition of Museumnacht or Museum Night on 1 August 2026, as the anniversary event drew crowds to 33 locations across the city.

A total of 31 museums and cultural institutions took part in Saturday night’s event, with 11 newcomers joining the programme across 13 guest venues. Visitors enjoyed concerts, performances, workshops and special exhibitions late into the night.

The biggest draw was the Rubens House, where almost 4,000 people gathered in the Rubens Garden for live music, art installations, family activities and refreshments. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) and the Museum At the Stream (MAS) also attracted large crowds with programmes linked to their exhibitions on Antony Gormley and Martial Arts respectively.

Elsewhere, visitors flocked to St Charles Borromeo Church to see a unique painting exchange, while the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library and Conscience Square were packed with workshop participants and audiences enjoying live cumbia music.

New venues prove a hit

Many visitors also took the opportunity to explore new locations added for this year’s anniversary edition.

Among the most popular was The Phoebus Foundation‘s CoBrA Depot, home to the world’s largest private collection of CoBrA art. Other successful additions included headquARTers and Argentin, showcasing ancient textiles, contemporary art and maritime heritage.

The FelixArchief attracted crowds with rarely displayed archival treasures and historic films of Antwerp, while lesser-known venues such as ADVN, the Bunker Museum and the University of Antwerp‘s Museum to Scale also welcomed strong visitor numbers.

Across the city, a colourful Bos Parade, organised by Het Bos and the Vleeshuis Museum, wound through the streets, while an illuminated art installation on the ferry to Linkeroever kept the celebrations going into the early hours. The night concluded with a sold-out afterparty at Het Bos.

Young audiences continue to grow

Museum Night’s programme of interactive activities once again proved popular, with noticeable surges in attendance whenever performances, guided tours or workshops began. The drag show by DWAAS Collectief at the Letterenhuis was among the busiest events of the evening.

For the third consecutive year, organisers also noted a particularly strong turnout among younger visitors, helped by discounted youth tickets.

Visitors also made extensive use of Antwerp’s Velo bike-sharing system. A total of 2,063 free day passes were activated during the event, an increase of more than 10% compared with last year.

Antwerp’s Alderwoman for Culture, Lien Van de Kelder (Vooruit), said the anniversary edition showed the event remained as popular as ever. “Twenty years of Museum Night, and the magic is clearly still very much alive. From established museums to new participants at unique guest venues, people across the city were discovering, being surprised and enjoying culture at an unusual time. It’s fantastic to see so many young people finding their way to museums. Twenty years after the first edition, Museum Night is still thriving and continues to inspire people across Antwerp.”

Visitors who missed some of the programme can still return to participating museums until 31 August using their Museum Night wristband to claim one free admission or a discount. Ticket holders also receive a €5 discount on the purchase of a Belgian Museum Pass throughout August.

Art and museums in Antwerp

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