Fancy a date at the Tate? London galleries are staying open later to fuel surging Gen Z interest

Are you keen to visit the Tate Modern, but have a pesky 9-5 getting in the way? Do you want to go on the weekend, but are worried that the experience will be ruined by couples from Kent and Sussex with screaming babies? Good news — the gallery has a solution.

Tate Modern will resume their regular later openings following an onslaught of younger visitors, meaning a free, cultural London date night will soon be an option for cash-strapped Gen Zers — and anyone else with a job. The gallery will be staying open until 9pm every Friday and Saturday evening from September 26, an extension of its regular opening hours (10am–6pm).

This follows the record number of young people who attended the modern art museum’s 25th birthday weekend, which took place from May 9-12; Tate reported that 70% of the 76,000 attendees were under 35. The gallery has also been running Tate Late events each month, at Tate Modern, and at sister gallery, Tate Britain, since 2016, in a bid to attract younger patrons.

A spokesperson for Tate Modern says its extended opening hours will ‘contribute to the vibrancy of London’s night-time cultural offering,’ and gallery director Karin Hindsbo says the new hours will make the gallery more ‘accessible’.

‘Over the last decade, Tate Modern Lates have become a cornerstone of London’s nightlife. They have proven the huge demand for access to our galleries outside of regular hours, especially among young Londoners who want to make the most of their city's dynamic cultural scene — so I’m delighted that Tate Modern will soon be open late every Friday and Saturday evening,’ Karin adds.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, agrees: ‘Tate Modern has transformed London’s cultural landscape. I’m thrilled the museum will now stay open later.’

The gallery's regular Lates, which include DJ sets, live music, creative workshops, artist talks and short film screenings, will continue to be held at the end of each month and will run from 6-10pm — a recent event was curated by the Islington-born rapper Little Simz. The next event will take place on August 28. The Tate group also runs The Tate Collective, a membership for 16-25 year olds that is free to join and offers members discounts on Tate events.

Before the pandemic, plenty of London museums had later opening hours, and the National Gallery, the V&A and the British Museum have all reinstated them in recent years. Access to most of the capital's major museums and galleries is free of charge.

Neil Evans, a senior press officer at the National Portrait Gallery was present at the late night opening of their recent Van Gogh exhibition until 3am in the morning. ‘It was a brilliant atmosphere and very interesting demographic-wise,’ he said. ‘With this all-nighter we definitely saw, as the evening went on, a more diverse crowd, certainly in terms of age and ethnicity.’ It’s an ‘opportunity to capture a market that perhaps isn’t being served by other sectors’.

Late night London dates

National Portrait Gallery: Open Friday and Saturday until 9pm

National Gallery: Open every Friday until 9pm

Royal Academy of Arts: Open every Friday until 9pm

V&A: Open every Friday until 10pm

Whitechapel Gallery: Open every Thursday until 9pm

British Museum: Open every Friday until 8:30pm

V&A East Storehouse: Open Friday and Saturday until 10pm

Frameless: Open Friday and Saturday until 10pm

Moco Museum: Open Friday to Sunday until 8pm

The Photographers’ Gallery: Open Thursday and Friday until 8pm

Serpentine Gallery: Open Saturday and Sunday until 7pm

Wellcome Collection: Open Thursdays until 8pm

The Barbican —Level Two Gallery: Open every day apart from Monday until 7pm. Other exhibitions often open later