The National Gallery

Dry venue hire starts from £18,000 + VAT, which includes the venue, an event manager, security, first aid, and cleaning/porter teams. For seated dinners, the fee is £20,000 + VAT for a four-hour hire with guest access from 18:45/19:00 – 23:00, while standing receptions are £18,000 + VAT for three hours with guest access from 18:45/19:00 – 22:00. All catering, production, florist, and entertainment are additional costs.

You must select all suppliers from The National Gallery's Accredited Supplier List. This mandatory requirement covers catering, production, florist, and entertainment services. The venue provides the accredited supplier list as part of the booking process, and no external suppliers are permitted.

Evening events cannot be hosted on Fridays as the gallery is open to the public until 21:00, so there is no capacity for evening events that day. All other days of the week are available for evening hire, with the gallery closing to the public at 18:00 on those days.

You can extend your event beyond 22:00 (for receptions) or 23:00 (for seated dinners) up to 02:00 at £2,000 + VAT per hour. This allows for late-night dancing and extended celebrations, with the venue able to accommodate events until 02:00.

The venue is not available on New Year's Eve due to Trafalgar Square celebrations, as road closures prevent suppliers from accessing the gallery. Additionally, the venue experiences high demand in November with limited availability, and Fridays are unavailable for evening events due to extended public opening hours until 21:00.

Daytime spaces are currently undergoing major capital refurbishment and are unavailable until Autumn 2025. New stunning meeting spaces will be available for booking from September 2025, with the refurbished spaces opening in May 2025. Evening event hire from 18:45 remains available throughout the refurbishment period.

The Yves Saint Laurent room is available for £10,000 + VAT and can accommodate up to 60 people for a four-hour hire from 18:45/19:00 – 23:00. The Pigott Theatre evening hire starts at £15,000 + VAT. These smaller spaces offer more budget-friendly options compared to the main gallery hire starting at £18,000 + VAT.

No, The National Gallery cannot host ticketed events according to their gallery policy. This restriction applies to all event types, including balls, conferences, screenings, and other gatherings where guests would purchase tickets to attend.

The venue is taking bookings for Autumn 2025 onwards, with high demand particularly in November. After initial enquiry, the next step is arranging a site visit of the spaces, after which your event date can be placed on hold. Contact the venue hire team directly on +44 (0)207 747 5931 to begin the booking process.

The venue cannot accommodate events requiring road access during Trafalgar Square celebrations (such as New Year's Eve). All events must use accredited suppliers only, and ticketed events are prohibited under gallery policy. The venue is suitable for corporate events, dinners, receptions, and private celebrations but has these specific operational restrictions.