The National Gallery

Dry venue hire starts from £18,000 + VAT for evening events, which includes the venue, an event manager, security, first aid, and cleaning/porter teams. For smaller spaces like the Yves Saint Laurent Room, pricing starts from £10,000 + VAT. All catering, production, floristry, and entertainment are additional costs provided through accredited suppliers only.

Evening events are available from 18:45 with guest access typically from 18:45/19:00. Standing receptions run for 3 hours (ending at 22:00) while seated dinners get 4 hours (ending at 23:00). You can extend events beyond these times until 02:00 at £2,000 + VAT per hour.

Evening events cannot be hosted on Fridays as the gallery is open to the public until 21:00. Events are available Monday through Thursday, and weekends, with the gallery typically closing to the public at 18:00 on these days.

The venue is not available on New Year's Eve due to Trafalgar Square celebrations and road closures that prevent supplier access. November dates tend to be heavily booked, and daytime spaces are currently under refurbishment until September 2025.

All catering, production, floristry, and entertainment must be provided through the National Gallery's accredited suppliers only - you cannot bring in external vendors. You must select from their Accredited Supplier List, and all arrangements are made directly with these approved companies.

The main evening hire can accommodate up to 300 people for standing receptions. The Yves Saint Laurent Room specifically holds up to 100 guests for drinks receptions or 60 people for seated dinners. Larger events requiring 200+ guests would use the main gallery spaces at the £18,000 + VAT rate.

The venue is taking bookings for Autumn 2025 onwards, with many November dates already fully booked. The booking process involves arranging a site visit first, after which they can place your event date on hold while you finalize details.

The National Gallery cannot host ticketed events as per their gallery policy. This means events where guests purchase tickets for entry are not permitted, limiting the venue to private hire events only.

Exhibition access and private views of exhibitions are exclusively available to Corporate Supporters only. If you want to include exhibition access in your event, you must contact the Corporate Team separately as this is not part of standard venue hire.

Standing receptions are priced at £18,000 + VAT for 3-hour hire (18:45/19:00 – 22:00), while seated dinners cost £20,000 + VAT for 4-hour hire (18:45/19:00 – 23:00). The Yves Saint Laurent Room starts at £10,000 + VAT for smaller events up to 60 seated or 100 standing.