Get Your Free Museum Day Tickets Here

Museum Day Live is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine, coming up this weekend on Saturday, September 29, when participating museums across the country give free admission to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket.


Smithsonian magazine hosts the annual event to encourage people to revisit their favorite local museum or try a new one in the area. The deal is simple too. Go to the Museum Day website and register to download a free ticket good for free admission for two people at one of the museums on the list.

Finding a participating museum is also easy. Just visit the Find a Museum page to locate a participating museum in your area.

In addition to the Smithsonian facilities in Washington, DC, free every day of the year anyway, a number of museums all around the United States are participating in Museum Day. Among them is the Aerospace Museum of California exhibiting 40 military and civilian aircraft, an engine collection from early aircraft to rockets, motion ride simulator, F-16 simulators, art, aviation and aerospace exhibits. In Florida, the Harry S Truman Little White House in Key West is included too. Used as Truman’s residence for 175 days of his presidency, Presidents William H. Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also called the place home.

Special exhibits, parking and Imax presentations are not included.

The Smithsonian is a diverse organization with many interests and surely worth a visit if not a lifetime of study. This video, typical of the Smithsonian’s diversity, features “Photography Changes Everything,” a new book from the Smithsonian and the Aperture Foundation, which uses the visual assets of the museum to explore how photographs impact our culture and our lives.




[Photo-Chris Owen]

Free passes: Museum Day set for Sept. 25

It’s not too early to start thinking about where you should be on Sept. 25, which happens to be the 6th annual Museum Day.

During last year’s Museum Day, an estimated 300,000 people got in free at some 1,300 museums around the country. Hosted by Smithsonian Media and sponsored by Toyota, the annual Museum Day offers a glimpse of what it’d be like if more museums in the U.S. were free — like in London, perhaps.

Though many U.S. museums offer free admission through year-round programs such as Target Free Fridays, the fact that Museum Day falls on a Saturday makes this a family-friendly (and budget-friendly) event.

Starting July 1, you can print the free museum pass from Smithsonian.com. The pass is good for two people at one of the participating museums. Though the list of registered venues hasn’t been finalized yet, confirmed museums include the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Adler Planetarium (Chicago), the Experience Music Project (Seattle), and the Dallas Museum of Art.

The value of the Museum Day pass depends on where you go. For example, general admission at the Museum of Fine Arts is usually $20 per adult, while entry to the Experience Music Project normally costs $15. Adult tickets at the Adler Planetarium and Dallas Museum of Art each regularly cost $10. If you’ll be traveling in late September, it’s worth trying to take advantage of these savings.

If you don’t see a museum near you, keep an eye on www.smithsonian.com/museumday for updated venues. Even if the museum charges for parking, chances are the free Museum Day pass will make this family outing less expensive than going to the movies.

Details: Starting on July 1, download your Museum Day Ticket from www.smithsonian.com/museumday. Limit one pass per household (or per e-mail address).

[Photo Credit: Amy Chen]

Try out a new museum for free on Museum Day

If you’re staying close to home this month and you want to try something new, take advantage of Museum Day on Saturday, September 26th.

That’s right, admission is free! Hundreds of museums and cultural venues in the U.S. are participating, too–find one near you. The options include everything from the Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson in Augusta, Georgia to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

To attend, you’ll need to register on Smithsonian Magazine’s website (don’t worry, it’s free) and print out the admission card that follows. The card is valid for you and a guest, and must be presented at the door.

Museum Day: Get cultured and learn something for free

If the ticket price of the admission to museums makes you hesitate before pulling out your wallet, on Museum Day, September 27th, the price is right. It’s free–not all museums, but many.

Several museums and cultural sites across the U.S. have been enticed by Smithsonian Magazine to not charge on the 27th to promote Museum Day.

You do need an admission card for free admission, but one pass will get you and a friend in the museum of your choice’s door.

If you use the drop down menu on the Museum Day Web site, you can find out which museums are free in any state. I checked out New York state and found dozens. Reading the list is one way to find out the variety of museums there are.

One museum that fits the historical site category caught my attention in particular. Huguenot Street is in New Paltz and is where I dressed up like a Huguenot when I was in high school and gave tours on what was called Huguenot Day. The house in the picture is one of the houses that is part of the tour.

I found out about Museum Day from Tom Barlow, my friend at Wallet Pop. He swears that I told him about it last week. Where was I? I have no recollection. Here’s the link to the Museum Day admission card.