National Gallery Nights are back! Here's how you can get passes.

WASHINGTON — National Gallery Nights are back this fall at the National Gallery of Art starting next month. 

Visitors will be able to enjoy music, live performances, artmaking, and pop-up talks which will center around the themes of a block party, Halloween, and the exhibition The Land Carries our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans. There will also be light foods, gelato, and drinks including beer, wine, and specialty cocktails for purchase in the Terrace Café and Espresso & Gelato Bar, and on the 4th Street Plaza.

But the event itself is free. The popular after-hours program will be held at the East Building of the gallery from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept. 14, Oct. 12, and Nov. 9. Which are all Thursdays.

To attend, people will have to register through a lottery system. The lottery will take place the week before each event. It will open on Monday and close Thursday at noon. Winners will be informed if they are selected to sign up for tickets the Friday before each event.

If you are not quite so lucky with the lottery, additional passes will be available at the door — first come, first served — starting at 5:30 p.m. during the day of the program.

Program Descriptions

Block Party
Sept. 14

Outdoor activities on the 4th Street Plaza are open to all, but registration is required to enter the East Building. Lottery for registration opens Sept. 4 and closes Sept. 7 at noon.

The museum block party celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip hop with a sound and dance adventure. The Missing Element bring beatboxing and street dance outdoors to the location. Chalk Riot! and other local artists create street art and murals both inside and outside the buildings. 

There will also be pop-up talks and artmaking. Ladies of Hip Hop Dance Collective will also be performing and DJ Bizzy and DJ Little Bacon Bear will set the beats for this museum dance party.

Nightmare at the Museum
Oct. 12

Outdoor activities on the 4th Street Plaza are open to all, but registration is required to enter the East Building. Lottery for registration opens Oct. 2 and closes Oct. 5 at noon.

"We’re your ghost hosts for one night of artsy haunts," the gallery said about the Halloween themed night. There will be a screening of Ghostbusters (1984) with a live, remixed soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone, part of SHAOLIN JAZZ’s Can I Kick It? series. Visitors can also level up their costume looks with custom face painting or a DIY mask station. 

Indigenous Futures
Nov. 9

Lottery for registration opens Oct. 30 and closes Nov. 2 at noon.

People can join the gallery for a special evening celebrating the exhibition The Land Carries our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans. Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit, Unangax̂)—an activist, musician, and visual artist—performs electro-soul as Ya Tseen. Hear pop-up talks in the galleries from curators and community members. Visitors can also make their own art inspired by the land and environment.