International Museum Day 2025 in Valencia: free activities, workshops and exclusive experiences

On 17 and 18 May, Valencia celebrates International Museum Day 2025 with a special programme full of cultural activities, family workshops, music, guided tours and free admission. Under the slogan “Museums, sustainability and wellbeing”, the city’s museums open their doors free of charge to offer exclusive experiences to locals and visitors throughout the weekend.

Promoted by the International Council of Museums, this event looks to highlight how museums can help build a sustainable future through education, outreach, research, and community involvement.

This is your opportunity to reconnect with Valencia’s museums and immerse yourself in a special programme that celebrates art, history, and knowledge.

Do you want to come along?

National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts

Saturday 17 May:

• Opening hours: 10 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm. Open evenings from 8 pm to midnight.
• Free admission from 4 pm to midnight.

Ceramics workshop 

Get the whole family to discover the fascinating process of creating ceramic pieces in this workshop, where you’ll learn how to use the potter’s wheel and experiment with many other techniques. Saturday 17 May at 12 pm (Free activity with prior booking: mncas@galipat.es).

Dramatised visits by night 

Join Carmen Puigmoltó y Mayans Pérez y Enríquez de Navarra, wife of the 7th Marquis of Dos Aguas, and her butler Ponciano on a very special tour of their newly inaugurated palace on the eve of the grand opening ball on 17 May 1867.
Experience history up close! Activity for children aged 3 and above, accompanied by an adult.

From 7 pm to 8:30 pm. Bookings (Free activity with prior booking: mncas@galipat.es).

Sunday 18 May:

• Opening hours: from 10 am to 2 pm. Free admission all day. 

Ceramics workshop 

Get the whole family to discover the fascinating process of creating ceramic pieces in this workshop, where you’ll learn how to use the potter’s wheel and experiment with many other techniques. Saturday 17 May at 12 pm (Free activity with prior booking: mncas@galipat.es).

Music recitals

In collaboration with the Valencia Professional Conservatory of Music, the museum is putting on musical recitals throughout the morning in different spaces around the building. From 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Free admission. 

CaixaForum València

Sunday 18 May:

• Opening hours: 10 am to 8 pm.
• Free admission to the exhibitions Revered and Feared and Top Secret.

En Altres Paraules Festival

• Dani Nel·lo Concert
• Family get-together with Marta Comín
• “Pocas palabras locas” family workshop
• Family reading and play space 

MUVIM

Saturday 17 May and Sunday 18 May

• On the 17th, the museum will be open all day from 10 am to midnight, while on the 18th, it will be open from 10 am to 8 pm. Admission is free.

Activities and opening times: 

• PLANETARIUM. A journey through the main constellations of the spring season to identify their brightest stars. 
• SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOPS. Four interactive workshops to explore some of the phenomena that coexist on Earth and design the world we know.
• CREATIVE WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS. Different workshops to encourage creativity.
• FUN MUSICAL ACTIVITIES. Different time slots throughout the day. No prior booking required. Family activities.
• GUIDED TOURS OF THE TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS.
  •  The Mirror of Beauty | Japonisms.
  •  María Beneyto. Dona múltiple.
  •  Rafael Armengol. Retrats.
  •  Look up! Mira cap amunt.
•  GUIDED TOURS OF THE PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS.
  • “The Adventure of Thought”.
  •  The medieval tower.
  •  Father Tosca’s model.
  • Visit to the Library. The MuVIM Library: “Llibres lliures”.

Bombas Gens

Saturday 17 May: 

Children’s workshop “VFX: the journey to Egypt”

Children will design their own Tutankhamun-inspired outfit and have their photographs taken in digital ancient Egyptian settings.
Free activity with prior booking at: www.bombasgens.com

Media Server Sessions

At 9pm Digital art session featuring works by artists such as Vitamin, Lauren Moffatt, Desilence and Lucas Gutiérrez.

Sunday 18 May: 

Children’s workshop “VFX: the journey to Egypt”

Children will design their own Tutankhamun-inspired outfit and have their photographs taken in digital ancient Egyptian settings.
Free activity with prior booking at: www.bombasgens.com

Hortensia Herrero Art Centre

Saturday 17 May:

Family activities 

• Mission in the museum: From 11 am to 12:30 pm, kids turn into explorers and solve puzzles surrounded by artworks in an adventure full of challenges, observation, and teamwork at the Hortensia Herrero Art Centre.
• You, the Artist: From 12 pm to 1:30 pm, children can unleash their creativity and create their own artwork based on personal reflection in this workshop.

DJ session:

On Saturday 17 May, from 5 pm to 8 pm, enjoy a live set with Giorgio Bonetti, one of the most eclectic DJs on the scene, with experience in venues in Valencia, Ibiza and London.

1-hour guided tour by night.

Enjoy a unique experience with this guided tour of the most outstanding works of the Hortensia Herrero Art Centre and discover how they change under the night light. (Sessions every 30 minutes from 8 pm to 10:30 pm).
 

Sunday 18 May:

Family activities:

• An ideal museum: Each group designs and builds a 3D model inspired by the CAHH, reflecting on the space, the works and their own "ideal museum".

Special opening with free admission.

It allows you to enjoy the Hortensia Herrero Collection, as well as to tour the interior of the building and learn about its history. Take your time to enjoy everything we have to offer, but don’t forget to book your ticket in advance. 

Prehistory Museum

Saturday 17 May:

Celebrate European Museum Night with free tours, workshops and entertainment from 9:30 pm to 1 am.

Sunday 18 May:

Guided tours. Free admission and activities until full capacity is reached:

• El futur dels museus en comunitats en constant canvi, from 10 am to 1:30 pm. 
• Orígens. El Mas de Menente i la Mola Alta de Serelles, at 11 am
• Moneda valenciana. Col·lecció Vidal Valle Ortí, at 11 am.
• Neolític i l’edat dels metalls, at 11 am

L’Etno

Sunday 18 May:

Guided tours. Free admission and activities until full capacity is reached:

• No és fàcil ser valencià o valenciana. At 11 am and 12:30 pm.
• Fadrines. At 11:30 am.

San Juan del Hospital

Sunday 18 May:

• Access to the Medieval Cemetery will be free from 10 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm, with guided tours every 30 minutes to explore the cemetery and the remains of the spina of Valencia’s Roman circus (groups not allowed).
• Solidarity Market with handmade products, sweets from the Poor Clare Nuns, fans, fabric bags, Fallas knitting backpacks, and more.

IVAM

Wednesday 14 May:

• 12 pm | Technical tour in the Restoration Department of the IVAM. With Maite Martínez. Exclusive tour of the museum’s restoration area (Book in advance).
• 6 pm | Guided tour to the exhibition “Soledad Sevilla. Ritmos, tramas y variables” (Book in advance).

Thursday 15 May:

• 5:30 pm| A creature at IVAM! Family activity. Participatory closing ceremony for a children’s creative process with artist Reyes Pe (free admission until full capacity is reached). 

Friday 16 May:

• 6:30 pm | Introduction to the presentation “Lo-que-ocurre”, by Sofía Alemán. Anonimatos section of the exhibition “Pinazo: identidades”.
  With the artist and curator Vicente Pla. (Free access until full capacity is reached). 
• 7 pm | Presentation of the exhibition “¡Eso no es cómic!” With the curators Álvaro Pons and Noelia Ibarra (Free access until full capacity is reached). 
• 8 pm | Inauguration of both exhibitions + cocktail. “¡Eso no es cómic!” and “Lo-que-ocurre”. 

Saturday 17 May:

• 12 pm | A mini-tour of IVAM: A visit with babies to the exhibition of Soledad Sevilla. In Spanish.

Open until midnight. Free of charge.

• 8 pm | Musical performance: Original Dixieland by Sedajazz. In the IVAM hall. (Free access until full capacity is reached).

Night visits with advance booking:

• 9 pm | Manolo Gil Exhibition. Álbum (Spanish)
• 10 pm | Soledad Sevilla. Ritmes, trames i variables (Valencian)
• 11 pm | Simone Fattal. Suspensión de la incredulidad (Spanish)

Sunday 18 May:

• 11 am | Guided tour of the exhibition “¡Eso no es cómic!”
• 12 pm | Participatory activity “Els Grans de l’IVAM conviden” Intergenerational meeting with senior visitors (Free access until full capacity is reached).
• 12 pm | Family comic workshop “Grandes recortadores” .Prior booking required.