A late line-up at the museum

Special after-dark events are to be held during Museums and Galleries Month, which starts today.

The programme includes a debate on class with Turner Prize-winning potter Grayson Perry at the National Portrait Gallery and another on slavery at Tate Britain.

There will be jazz at the National Gallery on 19 May and a "surrealist ball" at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 25 May.

Smaller venues taking part include the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, which is hosting a torch-lit tour of its aquarium.

Events over the bank holiday weekend include a festival on the "art of protest" at the Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park on Monday.

This will include morris and maypole dancing to celebrate the history of May Day.

A total of 1,500 special events are planned for the month in museums and galleries across the country. Further details can be found at www.mgm.org.uk