From 18 to 24 of May, Famalicão's museums will once again be ‘partying’ to celebrate International Museum Day. During these days, Famalicão's 11 museums will be open to visitors, with free admission including to the Camilo Castelo Branco House-Museum, in a year that celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Portuguese novelist, and a cultural and recreational programme that includes guided tours, creative workshops, theatre, music, exhibitions, interactive activities and much more.
The highlight of this celebration will once again be the traditional ‘Night at the Museum!’, an event organised in partnership with Classe Bar, at the Bernardino Machado Museum. The Barão de Trovisqueira Palace, the iconic building that currently houses the museum unit dedicated to the former President of the Republic, will be dressed up to celebrate International Museum Day on Saturday 24 May, in a ‘party’ starting at 23h00 and continuing into the night.
Until we reach the peak of the celebrations, the week will be filled with initiatives aimed at all ages.
Throughout the week, International Museum Day, whose main theme this year is ‘The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities’, will be marked in Famalicão with numerous activities in the municipality's museums, starting on Monday 19th with the workshop ‘The Sims of Museums’ at the Cupertino de Miranda Foundation, at 10h00 and 14h30.
The very next day, there will be the theatre ‘Bernardino Machado - A Children's Play’, at 10h30, at the Bernardino Machado Museum, which will be repeated on Wednesday 20 May, at the same time; the painting workshop ‘A Future in Colour’, at 14h30, at the National Railway Museum - Lousado Centre; the decorative candle workshop ‘The Magic of the Way’, at 14h30, at the Lapa Chapel Sacred Art Museum; the workshop-visit ‘Lost childhood and an empty bag’, at 15h00, at the Ave Basin Textile Industry Museum, which will be repeated on Thursday 22 May, at the same time; and the screening of the film ‘Memories - The Ghosts of the Colonial War’, at 15h00, at the Colonial War Museum, which will be shown again on Saturday 24 May.
On Wednesday 21st, there will be a visit-workshop ‘Your Future’ (10h00) at the Castro Alves Foundation Ceramics Museum; a guided visit to the exhibition ‘Mary, Pilgrim of Hope’ (10h00) at the Lapa Chapel Museum of Sacred Art, which will take place again on Friday; and the round table ‘The Godmothers of War’ (15h30) at the Colonial War Museum, a moment of sharing with real-life testimonies.
On 22 May, there will be a workshop-visit ‘Memories with a Future’ (14h00), at the Castro Alves Foundation's Museum of Artistic Ceramics, and on 23 May, the workshop ‘Let's turn!’ (10h30), at the National Railway Museum - Lousado Centre and the presentation of the works ‘The Witch of Monte Córdova’ and ‘The Daughter of the Black Doctor’ by Camilo Castelo Branco (17h30), at the Casa de Camilo - Museum. Study Centre.
The last day of the programme, the 24th, includes activities in Famalicão's Praça 9 de Abril, between 10h00 and 17h30, namely the game ‘Discover UMSEU’ and the ‘Consultório no Museu’, which gives visitors the chance to learn about preventive and archive conservation in Famalicão's museums. At the Camilo House-Museum, there will be visits with a talk and musical notes at 14h30; at the Colonial War Museum, the film ‘Memórias - Os Fantasmas da Guerra Colonial’ (Memories - The Ghosts of the Colonial War) will be shown again at 15h00; at the Sacred Art Museum of the Lapa Chapel, there will be a workshop entitled ‘Conta a Conta se Faz Uma Dezena’ (Count a Count Makes a Ten), with two sessions at 10h00 and 14h30; at the Museu Nacional Ferroviário - Núcleo de Lousado, the children's theatre play ‘O Pato Que Não Tinha Sorte’ will take place at 16h00; and at the Museu da Indústria Têxtil, the exhibition ‘Nós com Arte - Macramé Autoral’ will open at 15h00, and there will be a concert by Pedro Fernandes at 18h00.
Alongside the events taking place in the museums, the social networks of the Vila Nova de Famalicão Museums Network (@rededemuseusdevilanovadefamalicao) will also be running online initiatives such as ‘Musear as Coleções’ (from 18 to 24 May, at 11h30 and 17h00), ‘Um Riacho - O Naturalismo de Júlio Ramos’ (20th at 14h30), ‘Objetos que Brilham - A Coleção de Jóias de Soledade Malvar’ (21st at 14h30) and the presentation of the research project ‘Testemunhos de uma Herança Coletiva’ (22nd May at 21h30).
The DIM 2025 programme includes activities subject to prior registration, which can be consulted on the municipality's official website at www.famalicao.pt or on the social networks of the Vila Nova de Famalicão Museum Network, where you can also follow all the International Museum Day events, as well as confirm the opening hours of each museum unit during the celebrations.
