A unique open-air museum located in County Durham, UK, has won the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025 award.
Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, was founded in 1970 by Dr Frank Atkinson CBE, a British museum director and curator. Inspired by Scandinavian folk museums he'd visited in the early '50s, Atkinson wanted to document the vibrant (and fast-declining) industrial communities of North East England.
Having received a record number of visitors during 2019 to 2020, the museum managed to survive the impact of its COVID-19 closures by launching online activities and other educational local initiatives.
Displaying various replicas from the area's past and brought to life by costumed staff, it's an immersive portal of nostalgia that cradles its community's stories. One of its most impressive and innovative projects is 'Remaking Beamish', which saw tens of thousands of locals assist in recreating a 1950s parade of establishments, including a cinema, toy shop and record store.
Awarded £120,000 (€140,676) at a ceremony at the Museum of Liverpool on Thursday, the Art Fund’s judges described Beamish as “a joyous, immersive and unique place shaped by the stories and experiences of its community.”
Jenny Waldman, director at Art Fund, added: "The judges were blown away by the remarkable attention to detail of its exhibits across a 350-acre site and by the passion of its staff and volunteers.
"With three quarters of adults in the North East of England saying museums make them proud of where they live, Beamish is a shining example of how museums enrich and celebrate local communities."
The other four finalists will each receive £15,000 (€17,580), and include Chapter in Cardiff, Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast, Perth Museum in Perth & Kinross, and Compton Verney in Warwickshire.
Rebranded to the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2013, it is one of the world's largest (and most lauded) museum prizes, recognising creative excellence while supporting the sectors' integral contributions to community engagement.
Previous winners include London's Horniman Museum in 2022, Glasgow's Burrell Collection in 2023 and the Young V&A in 2024.
Northern lights
In response to this year's winner, UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the award "recognises the extraordinary contribution that Beamish has made to celebrate the heritage of the North East”.
Beamish's win comes just weeks after the Manchester Museum in May won the coveted European Museum of the Year Award for 2025, earning praise from the organising committee for "creating new spaces to foster deeper community connections and promote intercultural dialogue."
Despite funding cuts significantly impacting museums everywhere, they continue to be sacred spaces for preserving education, cultural identity and social connection. In 2024, independent museums generated an estimated £497 million in direct spending in the UK, according to a report.
For International Museum Day on 18 May, the Euronews Culture team selected some of our favourite, lesser-known museums across Europe. It's a reminder of the endlessly creative spirit at the heart of curated attractions - and that if you can't visit Beamish any time soon, there's always the Icelandic Phallological Museum instead... Check out our list here.
