For the first time in Manchester Museum’s history, one lucky family will be given the chance to experience an incredible night at the museum. This unique opportunity is being offered as part of a prize draw, allowing visitors to find out what happens when the sun goes down in the Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery, in the company of Stan, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex.
Not only will the lucky family enjoy an overnight stay in the gallery but they’ll also be treated to a guided torchlight tour of the galleries after the Museum has closed, a fun activity and a film screening before bedding down for the night in Stan’s company.
“We can’t be completely sure what happens when the sun goes down in our Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery because nobody has ever spent the night in there before but we can only imagine the kind of fun that can be had with Stan the T. rex and his friends,” said Dean Whiteside, Head of Commercial and Operations at Manchester Museum.
“This is a chance to be a part of museum history and enjoy the kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience you can’t usually buy. At the same time, Manchester Museum is a charity so, by getting behind this initiative, you’ll be helping to support vital work that impacts the lives of people across Greater Manchester and beyond.”
The Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery
The Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery is one of the most iconic spaces within Manchester Museum. It is part of the original building designed by celebrated Alfred Waterhouse, who also designed Manchester Town Hall and London’s Natural History Museum, and opened to the public in 1888.
Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex is very much the star of the show and, since being installed in 2004, has become a bit of a Manchester celebrity. Stan is a highly accurate cast of one of the most complete T. rex specimens ever found and its bones show signs of a dramatic life, including a cavity in the skull that appears to be from a T. rex tooth.
Other stars of the gallery include Percy the Plesiosaur, a 180 million-year-old marine reptile fossil discovered by Manchester University students and their lecturer during a field trip in 1960, and April the Tenontosaurus, one of the best-preserved and most complete specimens of this Cretaceous herbivore.
How to enter the prize draw
Visitors can enter the prize draw by buying a ticket for £5 from the Manchester Museum Shop – each ticket counts as one entry and the winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries.
The prize draw opens on Wednesday 2 September 2026 and closes on Monday 28 September 2026 and the prize can be claimed by a family of up to two adults and up to four children.
📍 Find the shop at Manchester Museum, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL.
