The 2024 National Lottery Open Week takes place from Saturday, the 9th, to Sunday, the 17th March, and offers free and discounted entry to hundreds of UK attractions.
The National Lottery Open Week is back for 2024 and is an annual promotion that has been running since 2017, with 2024 being the 30th anniversary of the National Lottery’s first draw, where players of National Lottery games can take advantage of special offers at National Lottery-funded venues and projects across the UK, by showing a valid National Lottery ticket or proof of purchase of National Lottery scratchcards or an other instant win game.
The Open Week has been set up as a direct way to say thank you for the £30 million raised, thanks to the support of National Lottery players, for Good Causes every week and National Lottery-funded venues, who have been funded in some way by the NationalLottery Heritage Fund, are offering free entry, discounts and special offers throughout National Lottery Open Week.
The next National Lottery Open Week is from Saturday 9th – Sunday 17th March 2024; visitors can enjoy discounts or free entry into hundreds of good cause projects venues dotted around the whole of the UK. In 2023, 65,000 people took advantage of one of the 500 National Lottery-supported venue offers, and this year, there are plenty of low-cost days out to enjoy, such as:
🤞 It's a great opportunity to delve into the past at historic houses, castles and museums
🤞 Embrace nature in all its glory at wildlife hotspots
🤞 Relive iconic moments at famous sports venues or,
🤞 Enjoy a culture fix at art galleries across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and beyond.
To view all venues and offers available, visit www.nationallotteryopenweek.com.
Previous organisations that have taken part in National Lottery Open Week in previous years include The National Trust, National Trust for Scotland, Historic Royal Palaces, English Heritage sites, Cardiff Castle, Imperial War Museums, Murrayfield Stadium, RSPB, Eden Project, Black Country Living Museum and the Royal Shakespeare Company to name but a few.
Offers include free entry into National Lottery-funded projects, with venues such as The Eden Project being a popular choice where ticket holders can get entry for themselves and a guest for free (pre-booking is required, and there are limited numbers of tickets available). Other notable free entry tickets included as part of the National Lottery open week are, and not limited to:
Charles Dickens Museum, National Museum of Flight, Heath Robinson Museum, Horniman Aquarium, National Trust - Nunnington Hall, Brunel Museum, The Great Fen - Free Signs of Spring Guided Walk, RSPB Belfast Window on Wildlife, Time and Tide Museum, Florence Nightingale Museum, Hatton Gallery, Shipley Art Gallery, Discovery Museum - Tyneside Challenge Gallery Tour, Gainsborough's House, The Tank Museum, behind the scenes tours of world-class sporting venues, and many more.
There are also a large number of other discounts, such as money off the entry, two for one ticket and other discounts, such complimentary gifts such as free guidebooks, venue restaurant discounts so that you can get a cheaper cup of tea and a slice of cake, and tours, or even setting aside tickets to a sold-out theatre performance.
Not every venue will be partaking in the offers for the entire week, instead offering deals and running events on specific days during the week, and some venues will be limiting the number of visitors that are able to visit at the reduced rate. You may need to book tickets in advance, and not all venues will allow you to just turn up on the day with proof of purchase of a national lottery ticket, for free/discounted entry, so its important to use the National Lottery Open Week website to read the specific terms of each venue an to plan ahead!The website will show you a full list of participating venues and their opening dates, and you can filter the site to show you attractions in your local area, by postcode, region or by viewing the interactive map.
Around 70% of visitors who took part in The National Lottery’s Open Week 2021 survey said they'd never visited the venue before or hadn’t in the past two years, so It's a fantastic opportunity for attractions to find new audiences and introduce a lot of new visitors to their fantastic venues and projects and, of course, a great way for families and individuals to discover some fantastic projects and areas of heritage with the special offer of free entry or a reduced rate, who during a cost of living crisis, may not normally be in a financial position to afford to visit.
Who can take advantage of the deal?
Anyone with valid proof of purchase of a National Lottery game, such as a hard copy ticket for National Lottery draw-based games (physical or digital), Instant Win games, or who has purchased a scratch card (physical or digital) can take advantage of this special ‘thank you’ offer. The ticket or game doesn't have to be current; old tickets are accepted as your proof of purchase, so if you didn't win the game, you can at least enjoy a fun day out thanks to your previous purchase!
Check the National Lottery Open Day website for the latest information on participating venues and special offers.
Image courtesy of Marcus Wallis/Unsplash. Information obtained from The National Lottery.