Twilight Relaxed Opening @ Horniman Museum and Gardens, London

Relaxed Opening session which is happening on Wednesday 8^th July from 5.00pm – 7.00pm.  This is an after-hours viewing for families who are unable to visit when the Horniman is busy, including children with autism spectrum conditions or neurodiverse families

The museum will remain open to the public for the first half hour, 5.00pm – 5.30pm but Voyage to the Deep exhibition and the Aquarium will be reserved solely for families booked onto the relaxed opening.  The Museum will close to the public at 5.30pm but remain open for the families booked onto the event.

You can book free tickets by emailing communitylearning@horniman.ac.uk.  Please let us know how many adult and child tickets you need.  It also helps us if you let us know in advance what access requirements you or your children have and if you can include the age of your child/children.

Which spaces will be open?

Voyage to the Deep is in our Temporary Exhibitions Gallery and is located on the Lower Ground Floor.  It will be reserved solely for families booked onto the Relaxed Opening from 5pm – 7pm.

 If you’d like a bit of a rest at any point, there will be two Chill Out spaces located in the Education Centre. We have added an additional Chill Out space, which is immediately behind our usual space to give more space to families, and allow you some privacy if you need it.

 The Gardens are also a nice place for some peace and quiet.  We have recently opened our new Kusama Nature Play Area, which is located at the bottom of the Gardens.  There are also toilets near the play area and both the play area and toilets are open until the Gardens close at 8.30pm.

There is a new Gardens Café next to the play area and it is open from 8.00am – 6.00pm.

Inside the Museum there are toilets on the Ground Floor, through the doorway into the Education Centre.  The door to the Education Centre is just to the right of the Shop. There are more toilets downstairs in Gallery Square.

Please note, some cleaning might still take place when you first arrive.

The main toilet block in the Gardens, which is opposite the Sound Garden and near the Bandstand Terrace, is open until the Gardens close at 8.30pm.

The Horniman Café, which is next to the Museum’s entrance is open to everyone from 9.00am – 5.00pm.

The Music and World Galleries will be open during the session. The Aquarium will be reserved solely for families booked onto the Relaxed Opening from 5pm until 7pm. The Natural History Gallery is currently closed for renovations.

Tickets

This event is free but you need to book places for yourself and your children through the Community Engagement Team.  Please email: communitylearning@horniman.ac.uk to reserve your places.

We will let you know if there are places available and add you to a guestlist for the session.

On the day of the Relaxed Opening we will have staff meet you either at the Education Centre or at the bottom of the ramp leading up to the Museum.

If you arrive before or at 5pm please go to the Education Centre, staff will then check you off the guest list and give you a sticker to get into Voyage to the Deep and the Aquarium.

If you arrive after 5.30pm there will be a member of staff at the bottom of the ramp leading up to the Museum.  They will check you off the guest list but you will not need a sticker as the Museum will have already closed to the public.

How do I get there?

Please take a look at our website for directions. There are also some handy videos online that give more details about arriving on site and finding your way around.

If there is anything else we can help you with in advance, please get in touch at communitylearning@horniman.ac.uk or on 0208 291 8725 – we are very happy to help. We will send out a Social Story along with further information closer to the date to everyone who is booked onto the event.

Please note, we sometimes get deliveries in the afternoon or evening and there is still work going on in our Gardens.  You might notice big vehicles on the Horniman site when you arrive.