Museums at Night encourages museums, galleries and heritage sites to throw open their doors after hours to show off what’s inside in unusual ways.

Delving into fascinating facts and learning more about history while having fun with the family or making new friends is part of the experience. It runs until Saturday, May 14.

The next Museums at Night event will run from Thursday, October 27 to Saturday, October 29.

There’s a rare opportunity to explore the Great Tower at Dover Castle after hours, which promises a special atmosphere.

The tours of the English Heritage site will be between 6pm and 10pm on Saturday, May 14, and are suitable to any age. Entry is £9.50, five to 15-year-olds £8.50. For details go to english-heritage.org.uk

Get a French flavour at a film night in an unusual setting. Rochester Film Society is teaming up with the Huguenot Museum in Rochester for the Museums at Night: Suite Française Film Night on Saturday, May 14 between 5pm and 8pm.

The movie stars Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Riley and is an adaptation of Holocaust victim Irene Nemirovsky’s acclaimed bestseller. The screening features an introduction by a member of the society. Tickets are £7.50. The show is certificate 15. For details click here

How much sleeping will be done at a sleepover in a museum at night? The Powell-Cotton Museum at Quex Park in Birchington, near margate, includes a torchlit tour, garden games, and the chance to make your own camera obscura.

Open to ages five to 15, it runs from Saturday, May 14 at 8pm to Sunday, May 15 to 9am.
The family-friendly event costs £35 for adults and £30 for children, with a family of two adults and two children costing £120. For details visit quexpark.co.uk or call 01843 842168.

Brace yourself for some hair-raising tales after dark at the Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery. Artists Jo Kimber and Alec Stevens uncovered some dark stories as part of their research into the popular Sussex Arms pub in The Pantiles.

As part of Museums at Night, they will be dramatically retelling some of them, and there will also be special tours for those prepared to brave the museum at night. The evening on Saturday, May 14 from 7.30pm, is for 18s and over and includes refreshments at the Sussex Arms too.

The free event will be at the museum in Mount Pleasant. For details go to tunbridgewellsmuseum.org

More details on events across the country at www.museumsatnight.org.uk