Riverside Museum celebrates 5th Birthday

Glasgow's Riverside Museum celebrates it's fifth birthday by announcing a diverse summer events programme!

Article Source: Glasgow Museums
Last Updated: 21 June 2016 14:40

Riverside Museum celebrated its fifth birthday this week by announcing a packed programme of free summer events. The award-winning £74 million museum has welcomed in excess of five million visitors since it opened on 20th June 2011. It is currently ranked as the second most popular attraction in Glasgow, the fifth most popular in Scotland. The summer events programme will get off to a rousing start on Saturday 25th June. For many it is the first day of the longed for school holidays, when the popular summer beach will open to the upbeat sounds of an Out of Africa experience.

Throughout the previous five years Riverside has continued to attract an increasing number of visitors year on year, welcoming in excess of 1.1 million people in 2015, which represented an increase of 7.8%. The success of Scotland’s museum of transport and travel is related to the ongoing programme of major display changes inside the building and the varied events programme outside, which reflect the museum’s diverse and growing audience base.

Councillor Archie Graham, Chair of Glasgow Life said: “Riverside has been an outstanding success which has vastly increased the number of people visiting Glasgow’s acclaimed transport collection. That success is mirrored by the ever-growing number of awards that this exciting and innovative Glasgow attraction receives. The addition of Riverside to the Glasgow skyline has helped ensure the city’s position as the cultural capital of Scotland.

“I’m confident the diverse events programme announced today will ensure many people add Riverside to their list of must-see attractions this summer. Who can resist the opportunity to kick off their shoes and wriggle their toes in the sand at the ever-popular beach, just one of a host of things happening at Riverside this summer.”

Out Of Africa has been programmed by Adebimpe Ademosu of Riverside Museum said: “Local population data showed a strong increase in the number of people from the African community living close to the museum. We are keen to celebrate African culture at Riverside and share the music, dance, food and fashion popular with that community with a wider audience.

“Local musicians, dancers and those who can create a culinary masterpiece will come together on Saturday to showcase their culture at our Out of Africa event. With upbeat tunes, dazzling colours and tempting aromas it promises to be a delight for the sense. We hope many people from all communities will come and enjoy the day.”

The free event will take place on Saturday 25th June from 12pm – 4pm. Every hour on the hour, local musicians will play African drums and invite visitors to join them in dance, afterwards people can taste and try delicious Nigerian food cooked up by the African Women’s Empowerment Agency. Children can learn basic bead making skills and enjoy traditional printing techniques. Local craftspeople will demonstrate how to make traditional fashion accessories, which will then be on sale.

The hugely popular beach will also open for the season, with giant deckchairs, beach sports and an opportunity to simply kick-back and relax. Later this summer Riverside will participate in Ignition, billed as Glasgow’s festival of motoring and the Festival of Wheels, which will see three weekends dedicated to people-powered methods of transport, including skateboarding, roller-blading and bmx-ing.

Inside visitors can take in Riverside’s latest major display change, Toucans and Lollipops. It tells the story of road safety and how our approach to learning about this deadly serious issue has changed since the 1950s, through one element that hasn’t changed – the Lollipop Person.

In a unique move for Riverside Museum, the display structure has been adapted to create a miniature roadway, complete with a fully functional Toucan Traffic Light Crossing System, which visitors can cross. Adding to the atmosphere is an audio soundscape between a Glasgow Lollipop lady and some local schoolchildren, accompanied by the sounds of busy traffic and car horns to remind visitors that the road is a dangerous place. The display also features road safety education objects, including a poster from the 1930s, a Teddy Tells You How to Be Safe booklet (1952), together with a much-loved How Tufty Crosses the Road leaflet (1974), a Road Sense Early Learning Ladybird book (1977) and the current Go Safe With Ziggy soft toy and artist’s sketchbook.

For further details on Riverside Museum’s summer events programme and events happening across all Glasgow Museums this summer visit www.glasgowmuseums.com