Guernsey Press

Free entry to Folk Museum throughout the rest of June

VISITING the National Trust of Guernsey’s Folk & Costume Museum is free for the rest of June in a bid to encourage more people to discover what goes on there.

Published
Tony Spruce, president of the National Trust of Guernsey, at the Folk Museum – which is free to enter until 30 June. (Picture by Sophie Rabey, 29618658)

Trust president Tony Spruce said the decision to allow free entry with effect from yesterday had been made due to a big drop in visitor numbers this season.

‘There have been little or no tourists this season, so we’re very keen to get locals to visit,’ he said.

‘Lots of locals feel that they’ve been to the museum, so they don’t need to go again but we change our costume display every year.’

Each exhibition features items from the trust’s collection of 8,000 local costume artefacts. The current display centres around the 1950s, with a collection of garments of the ‘New Look’ style on the first floor and a ground floor exhibition featuring the work of Marie Bisson.

This includes original sketches, illustrations, letters and clothes made by the local designer, who was commissioned by the States of Guernsey to organise costumes for the island’s 1953 coronation pageant. As an additional incentive, the trust is offering discount vouchers to everyone who visits, offering 10% off at Saumarez Park Cafe, just a few metres away from the museum.

The free entry offer continues until Wednesday 30 June, with normal entry prices resuming in July until the end of the season on Sunday 31 October.

Doors open at 10am, seven days a week, with last entry at 4.15pm before the daily closure at 5pm. The museum can be accessed by wheelchair, including both floors of the costume exhibition.