NEWS: Museum celebrations boost footfall by 40 per cent

Footfall at the National Motorcycle Museum has risen 40 per cent after a series of events to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

National Motorcycle Museum open day

The climax came on Saturday, 1 November, with the “Museum Live” open day. The milestone event saw thousands of visitors join the museum in marking its heritage and successes since first opening its doors in October 1984.

The open day included a range of free attractions and family-friendly activities, featuring free museum entry, indoor trade displays, autojumble, wheelie machine and even the chance to “try a bike” in a controlled off-road area.

Highlights of the day included ex-GP rider and television commentator Steve Parrish who conducted chat-show-style interviews, and live race machine ‘start ups’ in a special “stars on stage” feature.

The day culminated with TT superstar John McGuinness drawing the winning ticket to win a Vincent Rapide motorcycle worth £40,000 in the museum’s anniversary raffle prize draw.

Museum director James Hewing said: “We are very proud to be celebrating our 30th anniversary. Museum Live was a fantastic way for us to say thank you to the public for their support over the years and we are pleased to have been able to celebrate our achievements with everyone. We’re looking forward to the next 30 years!”

Museum Live followed a year’s celebrations which saw the venue host an installation of a pop-up art gallery and stage a photographic competition.

Photographic competition results are:

1st Prize: Luxury Break at a UK Best Western hotel- Mr Robert Bracher- “The Black Shadow”.

2nd Prize: VIP Museum entry/tour & lunch for five-Mr Anthony Jinks- “Goldstar”.

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