In March this year, Tallinn launched a free Museum Sundays initiative at city-owned museums to raise awareness of museum activities and improve access to culture. In half a year, the initiative has attracted a large number of visitors, with a record 9180 museum-goers visiting the museums on Museum Day in August.

"The Museum Sundays have attracted over 36,000 visitors to Tallinn's museums in six months, which shows that the initiative has been warmly received by the public. As there is no sign of a drop in visitor numbers on other days, it is safe to say that the goal of increasing the audience has been achieved," said Deputy Mayor Kaarel Oja, summing up the experience of the first six months.

"As a review of the Museum Sundays so far, the aim of the initiative - to bring more visitors to the museums and to draw more attention to our activities - has been very successful. We can be pleased to report that interest from both our own people and visitors to Tallinn has increased time and again, with a record number of visits to our museums during the August Museum Sunday. The feedback we have received from visitors also expresses 99% of people's happiness and gratitude that such an opportunity has been created," said Heli Nurger, Director of Tallinn City Museum.

A total of 8,566 people visited the branches of Tallinn City Museum on 7 August, including 4,174 visitors to the Kiek in de Kök Fortifications Museum, 1,084 visitors to the City Life Museum, 936 visitors to the Miiamilla Children's Museum, 474 visitors to the Tallinn Russian Museum, 285 visitors to the Kalamaja Museum, 892 visitors to the Peter the Great's House and 721 visitors to the Photo Museum. A total of 355 people visited the museums of the Tallinn Literary Centre on Sunday, of whom 158 visited the Vilde Museum, 109 the Tammsaare Museum and 88 the Unt Museum. The Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM) was visited by 232 people and the Gallery of the Kaja Cultural Centre by 27 people.

In comparison, the total number of visitors to the museums that joined the initiative on Museum Sunday in March was 5096, in April 6365, in May 7089, in June 4431 and in July 3890.

"Looking at August's record visitor numbers, we are faced with the challenge of simply not being able to fit comfortably into museum buildings. We will probably have to experiment with a solution where the number of people in the museum rooms at any one time is somewhat limited. Although waiting may be a bit inconvenient, the museum experience will definitely be more pleasant for everyone," added Deputy Mayor Kaarel Oja.

"While interest is high, we are also faced with a shortage of museum staff on peak visiting days, so we need to ask for volunteers - I call on all museum lovers to lend a hand and at the same time get an interesting experience behind the scenes. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please let us know at [email protected]," Nurger added.

The next free Museum Sundays will take place on 4 September, 2 October, 6 November and 4 December.

For more information, please visit tallinn.ee/museumsunday and the Museum Sunday Facebook page.