A night at the museum

Orange City Council’s Services Police Committee Chair Cr Ron Gander said the Orange Regional Museum’s first ‘Up Late’ event on May 19 is designed to turn the idea of a traditional museum on its head.

“In a traditional museum you go in and look around and you can’t touch anything and it’s polite to be quiet,” Cr Gander said.

“But this is no traditional museum.

“Most days there’s squeals and laughter from school children as they engage in the educational workshops and unlike most museums, the objects in Orange Regional Museum will change over time.

“The ‘Up Late’ event is another one of those elements that’s just a bit different.

“People can come in and hold historical objects and artefacts and ask questions directly to the museum’s collections officer about the object’s significance and history.”

The museum attracts about 1,000 visitors per week and most of those visitors are young families and older people so the ‘Up Late’ event is a way of encouraging another demographic that’s regularly seen in wine bars and at live music events, to come inside and see what’s on offer, Cr Gander said.

‘Up Late’ guests will be the first to see the museum’s newest display in its current exhibition ‘Journeys; People, Place, Stories’, which tells the story of Chinese migration to the Orange region and will be unveiled on the night.

Come along from 6pm to enjoy live music performances by locals Steve Sommerville, Haylee Gallagher, the Crooked Mile and the Honey Drippin’ Mudskippers.

Rowlee Wines are sponsoring the night’s festivities and will be there to serve some local flavours including their 2015 Pinot Noir and 2016 Pinot Gris.

Tickets are $10 including all entertainment, food and a drink on arrival and are available via

The museum will be open 'Up Late' with live music and wine. PHOTO: Corey Masters