Smithsonian Museum Day Now in April (instead of September)
Pictured: Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, Calif.
For quite a few years SeeCalifornia.com has enjoyed promoting the annual Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day (along with our usual focus on participating museums in California.) The event is traditionally held in September so it was quite a surprise to see that in 2020 it’s happening on April 4th. Not even sure that this new date was accurate we sought an explanation for the change. It turns out that Smithsonian Magazine has designated Saturday, April 4, 2020, as the 16th annual Museum Day to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Smithsonian Magazine.
An initiative with participating museums across the United States opening their doors for free to those who download available tickets has allowed thousands upon thousands of visitors into California museums normally charging anywhere from a few dollars to $25 for places such as The Tech in San Jose.
The only state that beats out California’s 61 participating museums in 2020 is New York with 76. However, we scanned the CA list and found that 17 museums in the Golden State never charge an admission fee, anyway.
California Museums, Smithsonian Day
Aviation
- Aerospace Museum of California in McClellan
- Flight Path Museum & Learning Center at LAX in Los Angeles
- March Field Air Museum in Riverside
Music
- Grammy Museum in Los Angeles
- Museum of Making Music, Carlsbad
Maritime
- Channel Islands Maritime Museum, Oxnard
- Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
- Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum
Ethnic
- Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco
- Elverhoj Museum, Solvang
- Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles
- Maidu Museum, Roseville
- Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach
