Concerts, guided tours... Here's what awaits you for the Night of Museums in the Toulon metropolitan area

Where honor is due. Toulon will be the epicenter of the Night of Museums in the city (due to the number of events planned). But in La Garde, Ollioules, and Hyères, unique events await you. Free admission for all during the evening.

The Toulon Art Museum (MAT) is celebrating Museum Night with a temporary exhibition, Watercolors in Bloom, available until 11 p.m. Starting at 7:30 p.m., a jazz concert is scheduled with the Toulon-based band Bâton Rouge, who will perform on the museum's forecourt to accompany visitors. From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., classical music will follow with the chamber music duo Aixèko. The two young virtuosos will offer three fifteen-minute music sessions throughout the MAT.

At the Museum of Asian Arts , family tours (with children aged 6 and over) begin at 6 p.m. by prior reservation ([email protected]). A guided tour of the Interstices exhibition (photos of Japan) will follow at 8 p.m.

After the MAT... the MaP for Maison de la photographie . The Edward Steichen exhibition is waiting for you. This exhibition honors this pioneer of fashion photography and contemporary magazine editor.

For its part, the National Maritime Museum will be open until midnight to showcase its temporary exhibition on Operation Dragoon in 1944, the Provence landings in photographs. A nighttime tour of the permanent collections is also planned, with museum guides accompanying the public.

At the Var Departmental Museum, everything begins at 8:30 p.m. with three thirty-minute musical sessions on site. A guinguette concert will liven up the evening with the Ritournelles trio. Tours of the museum's collections will continue until midnight. A discovery workshop also invites you to delve into the fascinating world of a local dinosaur: the Compsognathus! Finally, until midnight, the Metamorphoses exhibition will be on display. It brings together four young artists who have explored the intentional encounter between art and science, science and fiction.

3,000 visitors last year

Finally, Villa Rosemaine has an interesting program. Admission is free from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. for an evening dedicated to textile know-how and history. Sensory guided tours of the exhibition are available. Provençal boutis will also be featured, along with local textile traditions in Provence and beyond: India, England, Italy, Tunisia, and more.

" In the Toulon museums, we wanted to mix art and music, concerts and guided tours at night," explains Rémy Kerténian, director of cultural affairs in Toulon . "Putting live entertainment at the heart of our museums was our goal this year and it was quite successful."

Last year, 3,000 people visited Toulon's municipal museums. This year, that number could well be surpassed.

Music to accompany Andy Warhol in Hyères

In Hyères, a concert will accompany Andy Warhol's works, exhibited at the Museum of Banking, Cultures and Landscape, on Saturday evening at 9:30 p.m. Violinist Vadim Tchijik and pianist Ludmilla Bodo will perform a classical music performance in the museum's garden.

Inside, some sixty unique works await visitors for a rich nocturnal journey. The master of pop art displays his talents through his well-known portraits of Hollywood stars and famous people.

This is the first time that Warhol's pieces have been exhibited in Hyères. The exhibition runs until June.

Strolls in La Garde

In La Garde, the Jean-Aicard - Paulin-Bertrand Museum offers storytelling and burlesque walks for a good part of the evening until 9:30 p.m. "Theatrical tours will be offered by the actress Collette to discover the world of the poet and novelist Jean Aicard and his friend the painter Paulin Bertrand." At the same time, the public will explore the rooms of the Villa des Lauriers Roses.

Finally, from 9:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m., the poet Fernando Pessoa will be in the spotlight. "The public will embark on a drift across the ocean, to the rhythm of the verses, images, and modular synthesizer of the Accidens company, which will stage Fernando Pessoa's maritime poem, Ode Maritime," the town hall announced.

Flower Museum at night

Finally, the town of Ollioules is marking the occasion this year with Museum Night. Concerts, exhibitions, and lighting are planned at the Flower Museum.

It all starts at 7 p.m. with a lighting display in the Jardin des Heures around the theme "Mirror, my beautiful..." A play of light and shadow will follow one another before the opening, at 8 p.m., of the exhibition "Distilling lavender: the work of men".

The theme of lavender will be explored through the lens of the labor and tools associated with its exploitation by humans. Finally, a concert will be performed by the Andan'Trio in the Mistral Garden (clarinet, flute, and piano). Guided tours of the Observance Chapel are also available until 11 p.m.

At the Maison du patrimoine, the Voix Animées will celebrate the 480th anniversary of Clément Marot's death. Two sessions are scheduled, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The venue will be open until 11 p.m.