This weekend sees the return of Festival of Museums, the annual three day celebration featuring a host of exciting and innovative day and night events in museums and galleries throughout Scotland.

Festival of Museums will be staged over the weekend 18 to 20 May 2012.  From Aberdeen to Ayrshire and Skye to Stirling, there’s a programme of over 90 confirmed events Scotland-wide, many of them free.  

This year, visitors can enjoy some sleuthing at the Bell Pettigrew Museum in St Andrew’s; settle down to some wistful and wonderful Celtic fairy tales at the People's Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow; discover Scotland’s ‘horrible history’ at the Falconer Museum in Forres, Moray; listen to Tosca in the National Galleries in Edinburgh or attend a Japanese tea ceremony at Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura.  

The Festival, organised by Museums Galleries Scotland, coincides with other Europe-wide celebrations of the many eclectic cultural experiences offered to visitors by museums and galleries.

Joanne Orr, Chief Executive of Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “Festival of Museums is about igniting imaginations while celebrating Scotland’s wealth of culture. The festival’s real victory is the sheer variety of museums taking part - the programme includes many events in the bigger museums as well as communities working together to offer a new experience at their local museum. This allows everyone to get involved and makes the weekend the perfect excuse to finally get around to enjoying a museum which you have been intending to visit or to simply pop in to your ‘local’ for a bit of fun and inspiration.”

Craft Scotland have rounded up some of the craft related events taking place, including a Venetian ball, a fairy tale afternoon, a Mackintosh day and perfumed willow weaving. Simply click on the event title to find out more:

Festival of Museums - Let Us Entertain You - Motherwell
From: 18/05/2012 To: 18/05/2012  11:00 - 16:00 
We will be celebrating the Festival of Museums with an afternoon with the Victorians
Location: North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre, 1 High Road, Motherwell ML1 3HU

Festival of Museums - Visit 16th Century Scotland
From: 18/05/2012 To: 20/05/2012  12:00 - 17:00 
Living History Scotland will give an idea of what life would have been like when Queen Mary visited Hamilton.
Location: Low Parks Museum, 129 Muir Street, Hamilton ML3 6BJ

Festival of Museums - Let Us Entertain You - Summerlee
From: 18/05/2012 To: 18/05/2012  13:00 - 20:30 
We will be celebrating the Festival of Museums by opening our doors for an afternoon and evening of entertainment.
Location: Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life Heritage Way, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire ML5 1QD

Festival of Museums - The Best of Scotland in One Place
From: 18/05/2012 To: 20/05/2012  19:00 - 22:00
Visit the museum for a ceilidh, stories and craft activities.
Location: Lismore Heritage Centre Isle of Lismore, By Oban, Argyll PA34 5UL

Festival of Museums - From Picts to Pixels: The unveiling of the Borrobol Pictish Stone
From: 18/05/2012 To: 18/05/2012  19:30 - 22:00 
A new ‘Pictish’ symbol stone will be seen for the first time and the experts will discuss the artwork and mysterious world of the Picts.
Location: Timespan Museum and Arts Centre Dunrobin Street, Helmsdale, Sutherland KW8 6JX

Festival of Museums - Design New Tartan Trews for Our Mascot Rabbit
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  10:00 - 17:00 
This is an arts and crafts event where children of all ages can interact with the collection and express themselves creatively.
Location: British Golf Museum Bruce Embankment, St Andrews, KY16 9AB

Festival of Museums - Creating a Perfumed Story Dome
From: 19/05/2012 To: 20/05/2012  10:00 - 17:00 
Throughout the course of the weekend, local craftsman and willow grower Rob Eves will be constructing a four metre dome of living willow, through which honeysuckle and sweet clematis will intertwine to create a magical space for stories and hatching secret plans.
Location: Almond Valley Heritage Centre Millfield, Livingston, West Lothian, EH54 7AR

Festival of Museums - Fire and Flint
From: 19/05/2012 To: 20/05/2012  10:00 - 17:00 
Fantastic opportunity to see how the prehistoric technologies of fire and flint worked, with demonstrations of how our ancestors would have made fire and used flint to make tools for hunting and eating.
Location: Kilmartin House Museum/Aqualibrium Kilmartin House Museum, Kilmartin, Argyll PA31 8RQ/Aqualibrium, Campbeltown, 
Argyll PA28 6EG

Festival of Museums - The Enchanted Garden
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  10:00 - 16:30 
Guided tours and workshops for families to celebrate the Enchanted Garden
Location: City Art Centre 2 Market Street Edinburgh EH1 1DE

Festival of Museums - Turkey Red textile workshop for families
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  10:00 - 15:30 
A fabulous family event using the fascinating legacy of our textile industry to create beautiful Turkey Red inspired home accessories.
Location: Dumbarton Library (Dumbarton Heritage Centre), Strathleven, Place Dumbarton G82 1BD

Festival of Museums - Woodland Craft Day
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  10:30 - 16:00 
Celebrate 150 years of a major local business in photographs, maps and stories, plus the chance to see a forwarder.
Location: Nairn Museum Viewfield House, Viewfield Drive, Nairn IV12 4EE

Festival of Museums - The Magical World of Mackintosh
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  10:30 - 16:00 
This promises to be a multi-sensory menagerie of Mackintosh inspired theatre, storytelling and arts and craftiness for all the family!
Location: Scotland Street School Museum 225 Scotland Street, Glasgow G5 8QB

Festival of Museums - Crafty Crofters of Bygone Days
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  13:00 - 17:00 
You’ve seen them in the museum, now see them working and have a go!
Location: Strathnaver Museum, Bettyhill Village Hall, Bettyhill, Thurso KW14 7SS

Festival of Museums - Beasts at the Burrell
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  13:00 - 16:00 
The Burrell Collection comes alive with dray rides, falconry demonstrations and a mini petting zoo – come and have a wild day out!
Location: The Burrell Collection (Glasgow Museums) Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, G43 1AT

Festival of Museums - A Summer Venetian Masked Ball
From: 19/05/2012 To: 19/05/2012  18:00 - 20:00 
Enjoy a beautiful early summer’s evening in our gardens and listen to Venetian music, see a fashion show of masks and creative head-pieces, make family crafts and eat some Italian food.
Location: Lauriston Castle 2 A Cramond Road South, Edinburgh EH4 5QD

Festival of Museums - Once Upon a Time
From: 20/05/2012 To: 20/05/2012  12:00 - 16:00 
A fun, free afternoon in the land of fairy tales certain to entertain families with younger children.
Location: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Argyle Street Glasgow G3 8AG

Festival of Museums - Coronation - Celebration of a new future
From: 20/05/2012 To: 20/05/2012  13:00 - 16:00
In our Queens Diamond Jubilee year, join us in 1952 as we celebrate the Queens Coronation.
Location: People's Palace and Winter Gardens, Glasgow Green, Glasgow, G40 1AT

Full details of this year’s Festival of Museums events programme are available online at www.festivalofmuseums.com

Festival of Museums is supported by EAE and VisitScotland.