Two of Norwich's leading museums are joining forces to stage an exciting night of activities and entertainment as part of the Europe-wide Museums at Night celebration.Support Norwich on FacebookOfficial Norwich 2013 bid website

Two of Norwich's leading museums are joining forces to stage an exciting night of activities and entertainment as part of the Europe-wide Museums at Night celebration.

About 800 people are expected to attend the free evening at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, which will include live music, storytelling, tours and activities for both children and adults in collaboration with Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.

People of all ages will get the chance to explore the centre by torchlight and play games led by local artists, as well as taking part in creative activities such as torc-making and listening to talks from resident artists and archaeological experts.

There will also be performances including storytelling, live music from the Neutrinos and other local bands, dancing from the Hot Boppin' Girls and Chinese calligraphy demonstrations.

The theme of the event is 'treasure', in celebration of the world-class collections at both museums and of the links with A History of the World, the BBC's flagship partnership with the British Museum and museums around the country.

On the night people will have an opportunity to get their hands on museum objects, handle a collection of flints from Norwich Castle including hand axes from Africa dating back 1.5 million years, and objects from countries such as Papua New Guinea from the Sainsbury Centre's world art handling collection.

Esther Morgan, communications officer of the East of England Renaissance Hub, said: 'Last year's event created a big buzz and this year's is set to be even more spectacular with the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and BBC coming on board too.

'It's great that so many partners are joining forces to deliver a fantastic event for the city.'

This will be the third year that the Sainsbury Centre has collaborated with Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery to put on an event as part of Museums at Night, and the first year that the Norfolk and Norwich Festival has been involved.

And a 15-foot inflatable red ball will be squeezed into an unusual location at the Centre on May 19 as part of the Festival's visual arts programme, which sees the red ball visit 14 different nooks and crannies across the city during May.

The Museums at Night Special takes place on May 19 from 5pm to 11pm at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia. No booking is required, people can drop in and out at any time, and entry and activities are free.

Are you doing something to promote culture in Norwich? Contact Mary Hamilton on 01603 772418 or email mary.hamilton@archant.co.uk

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