We are delighted to announce our evening events programme for the Museums Association Conference 2026: Museums Connecting Communities.
Over three nights, delegates in Birmingham will have the opportunity to unwind and network with colleagues over a drink as they explore some of the city’s incredible cultural venues.
Our tours programme of the city’s museums, heritage sites and cultural venues take place on Monday 2 November from 1100-1700, before the opening party kicks off at 1800.
All three evening events are for in-person conference delegates only. There’s no need for delegates to book onto an evening event, just turn up and show your badge.
Opening reception | Thinktank
1800-2000, Monday 2 November
Birmingham’s interactive science museum provides the backdrop to our opening party. Thinktank is an awe-inspiring venue where delegates can network with colleagues over a welcome drink.
Highlights of the ground floor galleries – which focus on transport through the ages and machinery from the Industrial Revolution – include a Spitfire bomber plane that is suspended from the ceiling.
Birmingham’s Castle Bromwich factory produced more than 10,000 Spitfires during the second world war, and Thinktank details the story of the men and women who made these magnificent flying machines.
Speeches will take place under the Spitfire on the ground floor at 1830, with a welcome from the Museums Association’s vice president Rachael Rogers, and Kingston Myles, Birmingham Museum Trust’s director of enterprise and innovation.
The venue’s super-spec 4K Planetarium on Level 3 will run two screenings of the museum’s guide to tonight’s sky, guided by Thinktank’s resident astronomer. Screenings will begin at 1900 and 1930 and the show is 20 minutes long.
The Smethwick Engine, the world’s oldest working steam engine, will be in full flow throughout the evening.
Main party | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
1830-2030, Tuesday 3 November
After an exhilarating opening day of conference at the Birmingham Rep, head around the corner to the grand Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
The recently refurbished museum is a fittingly grand space to host our main party. Relax with a drink as you network and check out the museum’s Made in Birmingham gallery, which looks deeper into the stories and people who made the city. Visit the museum’s much-heralded new Elephant in the Room gallery, which explores how objects have found themselves in this collection.
The museum’s innovative VR Gallery will be running screenings of a 360-degree experience detailing the history of UK graffiti artists in a seated show with headsets.
At 1900 in the Made in Birmingham gallery, MA president Steve Miller will welcome guests to the event, followed by co-CEOs of Birmingham Museum Trust, Zak Mensah and Sara Wajid. After speeches, a Selextorhood DJ will take to the decks to serve up some chilled beats.
In the museum’s grand Victorian Tea Room, arts educator Haseebah Ali will offer a craft-based activity for delegates to get stuck into throughout the evening.
Pop up talks will also be happening throughout the evening across the venue’s expansive collections.
Delegates can enjoy two talks before speeches, both running at 1845 and then again at 1930. Co-curator Paulette Francis-Green will talk about the making of Elephant in the Room: The Roots and Routes of the City’s Collections, an exhibition that explores how artefacts from around the world came to be in Birmingham’s collections. Or wander into the museum’s enormous collection of Pre-Raphaelite art and learn more about this romantic 19th-century art movement.
At 1930 and 2000, delegates can enjoy a talk from a museum staff member on Celebrity Traitors contestant and comedian-turned-artist Joe Lycett’s pink and yellow dream space. Titled Everything Must Go, the artist has described his show as a “neon graveyard”.
Also at 1930 and 2000, delegates can hear about the amazing treasure trove of the Staffordshire Hoard, which was discovered in 2009 and is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. Hear about its discovery, research and conservation.
To top it all off, delegates will receive a 10% discount in the museum shop all night – so remember to bring your Christmas list.
Closing party | The Exchange
1815-2000, Wednesday 4 November
Our closing party takes place at The Exchange, a former bank now run by the University of Birmingham, just opposite the conference venue. Say a last goodbye to colleagues under Luke Jerram’s entrancing artwork Helios, a magnified look at our closest star.
Enjoy a few words from Sharon Heal, director of the Museums Association at 1845, celebrating this year’s conference, followed by Cassie Chadderton, the university’s director of culture, collections and public engagement. Tours of the venue’s beautiful art deco bank vaults will run at 1900 and 1930.
Accessibility guidance for each evening event venue, as well as the Rep where Conference sessions take place, is available via our Everything you need to know about conference guide.