Museum openings and expansions coming up in 2024

Perth Museum, Perth

The new Perth Museum will open on Easter weekend 2024.

Eight years and £26.5 million have been spent redeveloping the Perth City Hall into a museum to showcase Perth & Kinross’s Recognised Collections of National Significance and tell the story of Perth’s place in Scottish history. 

The centrepiece of the museum will be the Stone of Scone, which has been used in coronations since the 9^th century, most recently in that of King Charles III. The relic will return to Perthshire for the first time since it was stolen in 1296 by Edward I of England.

The collection also boasts a silver hilted sword once belonging to Bonnie Prince Charlie and a 3,000 year old boat.

The Perth Museum will be free to visit. It will also include learning and events spaces and a temporary exhibition programme.

Showtown, Blackpool

Blackpool's long-awaited new museum will open on 15 March 2024 on city’s waterfront, celebrating its world-famous entertainment industry. 

Eight hundred objects across six galleries will focus on magic, circuses and performance. The museum will showcase vintage Punch and Judy sets and costumes from The Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Interactive exhibits and a learning space for school trips will entertain children. 

The museum hopes to attract over 200,000 visitors each year and boost the local economy through tourism. Tickets are available for sale now and are free for Blackpool residents and schools.  

Museum of Homelessness, London

The world’s only museum dedicated to homelessness was founded in 2015 and is run by people with direct experience of homelessness. 

After seven years of organising events around the UK, the organisation moved into its first permanent site in Finsbury Park in October 2023 and will open to the public in April 2024. 

The galleries will display artwork alongside everyday objects to preserve the history of homelessness. The museum aims to educate people about homelessness in order to unravel the prejudices surrounding it. 

The museum will also be an event space. Performing artists will create awareness of the culture of homelessness. Five support sessions per week will offer practical help to those in need.

Peacemakers Museum, Derry

This new museum will tell the story of Derry from 1972-2007, with a particular emphasis on how underprivileged members of Derry’s community contributed to the transition to peace.

Exhibits will memorialise those who suffered in the area during the conflict and educate people on the Good Friday Agreement.

The Peacemakers Museum will feature personal accounts of 50 different residents from a range of socio-political backgrounds that share their experiences of living in Derry during this era. Visitors will also be able to view artefacts, archive footage and the replica interior of a 1970s house.

The museum’s website will support the UK's GCSE and Ireland's Leaving Cert curricula.

The project is part of a £2.8m redevelopment of the Gasyard Development Trust’s community centre, and will open in spring 2024.

Lives in Our Landscape at Maidstone Museum, Kent

This family-orientated extension to Maidstone Museum cost £600,000 to develop and will open in early summer 2024. 

The new gallery will explore the history of the area from the stone age to the early medieval period.

Maidstone Museum collaborated with the Kent Archaeological Society to select the artefacts. Hands-on exhibits including objects for handling, dress-up costumes in and a touchscreen map will help children engage with archaeology.