The European Museum Night, organised since 2005 by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, gives visitors the chance to discover museums in an original way as night falls.
Young and old alike have the privilege of admiring the many cultural riches and unsuspected facets of museums of art, history, popular traditions and science, in a festive and convivial atmosphere.
This 21th edition, which takes place on 17 May 2025 throughout France and in 30 other European countries, invites the public to visit the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, but also to discover museums in a different way through a wide range of entertainment and activities: guided tours, workshops, concerts, film screenings, readings, sound or visual installations, etc.
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Many Parisian museums are taking part in the event. Top 10 exceptional and free visits to be made during this 21st European Night of Museums.
A concert at the National Maritime Museum in Paris! The ceremonial rooms of the Maritime Museum welcome the Camille Saint-Saëns Conservatory for a programme rich in chamber music and jazz.
Hôtel de la Marine - 2 place de la Concorde - Paris 8e
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 7pm to 11pm
On the occasion of the Tous Léger! exhibition at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, discover a dance and performance piece dedicated to the poet René Char, a great friend of Fernand Léger during a free late-night opening.
Musée du Luxembourg - 19 rue de Vaugirard, Paris 6
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 7.30pm to midnight
On the occasion of the Night, enjoy a free visit to the Wes Anderson exhibition at the Cinémathèque française, followed by a concert of jazz and blues standards by the students of Virginie Capizzi's vocal jazz class at the Conservatoire Charles Munch (CMA11) and penetrate the secrets of special effects with a free visit to the Georges Méliès museum as well as a murder party ‘But who killed Scrap?’
Cinémathèque française - 51 rue de Bercy, Paris 12
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 6pm to midnight
The huge City of Science and Industry is offering a very wide-ranging programme for Museum Night 2025. Access to the planetarium for an 8k film about the moon, a festive evening, access to the exhibition ‘Silence’ (https://parisjetaime.com/evenement/exposition-silence-e1424) or ‘Dogs and cats’ (https://parisjetaime.com/evenement/exposition-chiens-et-chats-e1440) and ‘Danser’.
Cité des sciences et de l'industrie - 30 avenue Corentin Cariou - Paris 19
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 6 pm to midnight
On the occasion of the 2025 European Museum Night, the David Hockney, 25 exhibition is opening its doors free of charge. Oil paintings, digital installations, total immersion in the world of the contemporary painter.
8 avenue du Mahatma Gandhi, Paris 16
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 6 pm to midnight
Browse the museum's collections freely and free of charge and let yourself be carried away on a unique musical journey by the five young musicians who are Into de Winds enthusiasts. From 6.30 pm, they will take you on a sung stroll: awaken your senses and emotions and take a fresh look at the museum's ancient and medieval collections.
Musée de Cluny - 28 rue du Sommerard, Paris 5
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 6 pm to 11.30 pm
The Musée des Arts et Métiers, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, traces the history of technology since the 16th century, in the fields of scientific instruments, materials, construction, communication, energy, mechanics and transport. Watch demonstrations of the phonograph and the player piano, and take a flash tour of Ader's aeroplane or Lavoisier's laboratory.
Musée des Arts et Métiers - *60 rue Réaumur
75003 Paris
> Saturday 17 May 2025, from 6 pm to midnight
Feel the rhythm of a legend! To mark European Museum Night, the Maison Gainsbourg is opening its doors free of charge on 17 and 18 May 2025, from 7pm to 2am. Step into the heart of 5 bis rue de Verneuil to explore the historic house, museum and Gainsbarre in a unique musical atmosphere created by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Soundwalk Collective. On the programme: immersive tours, live concerts, DJ sets and more than 450 objects tracing the life of Serge Gainsbourg. A magical night for lovers of music, art and heritage!
On Saturday 17 May 2025, the Nogent-sur-Marne Museum is taking part in European Museum Night with an evening full of discoveries! Starting at 5:45 p.m., admire the creative projects of students from schools in Vincennes and Perreux-sur-Marne based on the works of Gueldry and Génin. Then, at 8.30pm and 9.30pm, let yourself be surprised by a theatrical ‘interrupted tour’ of the exhibition Willy Ronis, La Banlieue Est sous l'œil du maître by the Pocket Théâtre. The actors and museum staff will combine their roles to bring Willy Ronis' iconic photographs to life.
And don't miss a fascinating lecture on Willy Ronis' career and his donation, presented by Ronan Guinée from the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, on Saturday 24 May 2025 at 3pm at the MJC. Free admission by reservation on 01 48 75 51 25.
On Saturday 17 May 2025, the Musée de Montmartre is teaming up with Radio Nova for an exceptional evening as part of European Museum Night. From 6.30pm to 10pm, visitors are invited to explore the museum's permanent and temporary exhibitions at their leisure, while enjoying a spellbinding DJ set in the Renoir gardens. This musical performance pays tribute to the great voices of Montmartre, such as Dalida, Piaf, Aznavour, Gréco and Mouloudji, offering a unique immersion into the artistic soul of the Butte.
Among the highlights of European Museum Night 2025, several unique experiences await you throughout Paris and its surrounding region.
Les Arts Décoratifs (1st), Conciergerie (1st), Louvre Museum (1st), Bourse de Commerce (1st), Musée de l'Orangerie (1st), Hôtel de la Marine (1st), Museum of Jewish Art and History (3rd), Museum of Hunting and Nature (3rd), Museum of Arts and Crafts (3rd), National Picasso Museum (3rd), Swedish Institute (3rd), Centre Pompidou (4th), Shoah Memorial (4th), National Archives (4th), Maison de Victor Hugo (4th), Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation (4th), Polish Library (4th), Arab World Institute (5th), Cluny Museum (5th), Police Headquarters Museum (5th), Curie Museum (5th), Army Health Service Museum (5th), Gallery of Evolution (5th), Irish Cultural Centre (5th), École Mines Paristech – Mineralogy Museum (6th), Zadkine Museum (6th), Monnaie de Paris (6th), Eugène Delacroix National Museum (6th), Luxembourg Museum (6th), Museum of the History of Medicine (6th), Auguste Comte Museum (6th), Gainsbourg House Museum (7th), Quai Branly Museum (7th), Army Museum - Hôtel des Invalides (7th), Paris Sewer Museum (7th), Museum of the Order of the Liberation in Paris (7th), Musée des Plans-reliefs (7th), Orsay Museum (7th), Museum of the Legion of Honour and Orders of Chivalry (7th), House of Denmark (8th), Petit Palais – City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (8th), Canadian Cultural Centre (8th), Grand Palais (8th), Nissim Camondo Museum – Museum of Decorative Arts (8th), Europa Experience Paris (8th), Gustave Moreau Museum (9th), Museum of Freemasonry (9th), Cinémathèque Française – Film Museum (12th), Palais de la Porte Dorée – Museum of the History of Immigration (12th), Immersive Grand Palais (12th), Seydoux-Pathé Foundation (13th), French Museum of Radiology and Medical Imaging (13th), Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de l'Hôpital Sainte-Anne (14th), Musée de la Libération de Paris (14th), Institut Giacometti (14th), Maison de la Culture du Japon (15th), Musée Bourdelle (15th), Étincelles du Palais de la Découverte (15th), Palais Galliera (16th), Guimet Museum of Asian Arts (16th), Louis Vuitton Foundation (16th), National Maritime Museum (16th), Yves Saint Laurent Museum (16th), City of Architecture and Heritage (16th), Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris (16th), Maison de Balzac (16th), Marmottan Monet Museum (16th), Palais de Tokyo (16th), Cité de l'Économie (17th), Musée National Jean-Jacques Henner (17th), Musée de Montmartre (18th), Universcience – Cité des Sciences et de l'industrie (19th), Cité de la Musique – Philharmonie de Paris (19th), Espace Monte-Cristo (20th)...
...And many other institutions in Île-de-France, such as the Château de Fontainebleau (77), the Maison Elsa Triolet - Aragon (78), the Cyclop (91), the Paul Belmondo Museum (92), the Paul Éluard Museum of Art and History in Saint-Denis (93), the Château de Vincennes (94), the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Museum in Montmorency (95)…
17 May 2025
The full programme is available at nuitdesmusees.culture.gouv.fr/
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