ALL of Wales' publicly-owned museums - including Blaenavon's Big Pit and the National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon - have announced when they will re-open.
This follows the announcement by first minister Mark Drakeford last week that cinemas, museums and galleries will be able to re-open from Monday, July 27.
St Fagans National Museum of History is planning to reopen the outdoor grounds four days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) from Tuesday, August 4.
The visitor experience will be different as the historic houses, galleries and play areas will have to remain closed due to social distancing and current restrictions. All visitors will also need to pre-book a free ticket.
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The National Museum in Cardiff, the National Slate Museum in Caernarfon and the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea will re-open on the week starting Monday, August 24.
Big Pit and the National Roman Legion Museum, as well as the National Wool Museum in Carmarthenshire will re-open from Tuesday, September 1.
“We are working hard to ensure all national museums will be safe spaces for staff, volunteers and visitors when the time comes,” said a spokesperson.
“Over the last few weeks, we have been reviewing how we can best support our communities through these challenging times, remotely and when we are able to re-open our museums.
“We have launched a new public appeal and a mass digital observation project to collect the experiences of living in Wales during this extraordinary time of COVID-19.
“As a charity, Amgueddfa Cymru’s financial stability is also a priority.
“We are currently losing around £400,000 of income per month we are closed to the public and even when we re-open our museums, we will not be able to recover these losses fully on site due to the current guidelines of social distancing. We have therefore actively identified other options to protect the organisation, furloughing more than 40 per cent of our staff through the Government’s Job Retention Scheme and working with our funders to identify other sources of income.”
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