Look forward to an action-packed 2024 as Beamish, The Living Museum of the North prepares for the opening of its latest Remaking Beamish project exhibits, and has an exciting programme of events lined up throughout the year.
With the Beamish Unlimited Pass, visitors to the County Durham open air museum can pay once and spend a whole year exploring new exhibits and taking part in exciting events.
New exhibits opening in 2024, include the recreation of The Grand cinema, from Ryhope in Sunderland, which will give visitors a chance to experience a trip to the pictures in the 1950s. The cinema will be recreated, incorporating as many elements and features of the original building as possible, and brought to life including screening films, period newsreels and adverts.
A toy shop named after the popular Romer Parrish store in Middlesbrough, and an electrical shop and repair workshop, A Reece Ltd, are also due to open on The 1950s Town’s Front Street alongside the cinema in 2024.
In the museum’s 1820s Landscape, this year will see the opening of the Drovers’ Tavern, where visitors will be able to enjoy Georgian-inspired food and drink, as well as a Georgian pottery, expanding the range of early cottage industries that visitors can experience.
The museum will also be giving visitors the opportunity to stay overnight at Beamish in Georgian workers cottages, offering a unique self-catering experience in farm buildings original to the museum site. The first two of these cottages are due to open near 1820s Pockerley Old Hall later this year.
Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the Remaking Beamish project was awarded a £10.9million grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2016 – a major milestone in Beamish’s history and the largest single investment ever seen at the museum.
On top of the exhibit openings, the museum also has an exciting year of events coming up, kicking off with its very own pantomime, Cinderella – oh yes it is! Performances take place on weekends until 11 February (pre-booking required, small extra charge applies).
After a fantastic music-themed February Half Term (17-25 February), the museum will be exploring the role of women in history during the International Women’s Day event (8–10 March), ending with Mothering Sunday on 10 March.
A celebration of science follows, with special activities for schools (13-15 March and 20-22 March) as well as activities for visitors to get involved with during Science Weekend (16 & 17 March).
There’ll be the chance to experience a cracking day out at Beamish this Easter (29 March-1 April), take part in an Easter egg trail, enjoy traditional Easter baking, take part in Easter crafts and egg-cellent activities.
The Beamish Steam Gala will be taking place on 6 and 7 April, showcasing a wide array of road steam, locomotives and internal combustion engines.
Traditional May Day celebrations will be held on 5 and 6 May, and the museum will be enjoying all things equine during the Horses in Harness event (8 and 9 June).
The Fares Please! event (29 and 30 June) is an unmissable festival of public transport.
From 1 July to 3 September visitors can step back in time to take part in fun, summer activities across the museum.
The museum will be welcoming The North East Horticultural Society for their annual show (7 and 8 September). Green fingered visitors are invited to enter their homegrown produce for the chance to win cash prizes.
Autumn sees the return of traditional Harvest Celebrations (5-6 October).
The year will end with the museum’s festive programme, with Christmas at Beamish daytimes from 23 November to 24 December 2024, and Twelfth Night Celebrations (27 December 2024 to 5 January 2025).
Paul Foster, Beamish’s Events Manager, said: “We have an incredible line-up of events for 2024, including everything from pantomime performances to traditional transport. No matter what your interest, you’re sure to find something incredible to see and do at Beamish this year, and we can’t wait to have everyone come and join us for what is sure to be an unmissable year at the museum.”
There’ll also be regular musical performances by brass bands in the bandstand in The 1900s Town, choirs in The 1900s Pit Village chapel and 1950s musical acts taking to the welfare hall stage.
Daytime events are included in admission to the museum and visitors can use their Beamish Unlimited Pass or Friends of Beamish membership enjoy all daytime events, pay once and visit free for twelve months.
More information on the 2024 events can be found on the museum’s website, visit www.beamish.org.uk. You can also sign up to our e-newsletter to stay up-to-date on all of the latest news from the museum www.beamish.org.uk/sign-up-to-our-newsletter.