Late night museums: The new nightlife McKenzie-Cook says that the Lates are "increasingly attractive because it's free, and we host them at the end of the month before payday" - for the thousands of students, young professionals and social groups who attend, it's just another fun night out in London - with the benefit for the museum of boosting their independent adult visitor numbers (95 per cent of Lates attendees are aged between 16-35) and having an opportunity to showcase parts of their collection usually tucked away. Science Museum Lates's visitor figures have always grown, as has attendance at evening events nationwide. Liverpool's Light Night, where the city's galleries and museums "give people access to things they wouldn't normally go to" for one Friday night in May, has increased its audience by 40 per cent year-on-year since 2008. Bill Griffiths, who organises Newcastle's Late Shows, tells a similar story. He describes the two-evening event as "cultural tapas," with over 30,000 people shuttled around 55 venues in buses in 2012. This year, 70 venues in Newcastle's small city centre are taking part - up from the 14 Griffiths had to "beg" to participate in 2007, when 4000 people attended. This year it's likely to be 10 times that. It's a surprising success story given the drastic arts cuts in the North East - 50 per cent of the £1.2 million funding for the area's cultural spaces has gone - and across the country. Most organisers I speak to look forward to continued visitor growth after evening events. But Director of the Museums Association, Mark Taylor, has a different outlook, saying immediately: "I worry that late night openings might be victims of the cuts in the long run." Visitors enjoy the interactive activities at Newcastle's Late Shows. The singles night at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery strikes, appropriately, on February 14 - but its the end of tax year timing which determines whether it happens. Julia Kirby, learning manager of Birmingham Museums, says the evening is too costly to make a regular occurrence. As with other evening events, Kirby says there is an intention to introduce new audiences to a cultural experience, but mainly "it's about pure enjoyment." Local single people pay £10 at the door to enjoy a bar and live music in the Grade II listed Edwardian building - in the eight years it has been running intermittently, four attendees have been married and lots of dates made. "I always get a warm glow when I see people exchanging numbers," Kirby says, "but we would be open to other events if there was sponsorship." Budget is a big factor with hosting evening events. Nick Stockman, Museums at Night's project manager, said that museums can "take quite a bit of time to take the plunge" into evening openings because of cost. Late events are very London-centric. Brighton has only just started to take the plunge and it's the resources which are the problem. Stockman says that cuts have "completely wiped out the ability of some museums to participate in Museums at Night," but many institutions recognise the opportunity of a marketing spike the weekend can offer. While many museums manage events "on a shoestring," all admit that sponsorship would be welcome. Newcastle's Late Shows pride themselves on clever branding (handing out glow sticks to all attendees) but Griffith says they are "actively looking for sponsorship" to improve their reach. Charlotte Corrie, director of Open Culture who organises Liverpool's Light Night, says the event would have no advertising or marketing without the sponsorship of local companies. Corrie explains that Liverpool being crowned Capital of Culture in 2008 "had a great impact" on the amount of local corporate money being invested in the city's arts. It definitely opened people's eyes. But we work very hard to get sponsorship. While Science Museum Lates started out of the museum's own budget, the event has been supported by Mastercard since November 2011, something McKenzie-Cook says is needed. Mastercard also sponsors events at the Natural History Museum and the V&A. Like its Exhibition Road neighbour, the Natural History Museum ran Lates before sponsorship, but attendance has increased by 31 per cent since the company's involvement. Paul Truman, head of marketing at Mastercard, says that they "have a clear ambition" that they can aid regional museums too, but European expansion is for now focused on Stockholm, Istanbul and Moscow. However, beyond the finances is a telling shift in attitudes both from museums and visitors. According to Mark Taylor, museums are newly aware that "they have to work around visitor hours, not make visitors work around theirs." He says: "museums have come on in miles thinking about their audience and how to attract local and revisiting visitors." Griffith says he wants Lates attendees to be "desperate to come back," a sentiment likely shared with other museums. Sponsorship and arts cuts have their impact, but these new museum attendees are voting with their feet. One consistent trend across the evening events is a leap in the number of visitors aged between 16-30, and the vast majority of attendees were making their first trip to that venue. Museums no longer want to be seen as dusty temples of learning, nor as silent as old style libraries, but areas for people to socialise in - perhaps, in Birmingham at least, even meet their future spouse. Lates have caused the picture of the typical museum-goer to change, and with it, the idea of the typical museum.