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 seated dinners, the fee is £20,000 + VAT for a four-hour hire with guest access from 18:45/19:00 – 23:00. All catering, production, florist, and entertainment are additional costs provided through accredited suppliers only.

Guest access is from 18:45/19:00 for evening events. Standing receptions run for three hours (ending at 22:00), while seated dinners run for four hours (ending at 23:00). You can extend your event beyond these times up to 02:00 at £2,000 + VAT per hour.

Friday evenings are not available as the gallery is open to the public until 21:00. New Year's Eve is also unavailable due to Trafalgar Square celebrations and road closures that prevent supplier access to the gallery.

Yes, all catering, production, florist, and entertainment must be provided through the National Gallery's Accredited Supplier List. You cannot use external suppliers - you must select from their approved list for all additional services beyond the basic venue hire.

The venue can accommodate dinners for up to 350 guests and receptions for up to 1,200. Specific spaces like the Yves Saint Laurent Gallery can accommodate up to 60 people for £10,000 + VAT, while larger evening events for 300 people start at £18,000 + VAT.

The National Gallery cannot host ticketed events as per their gallery policy. This means events where guests purchase tickets for entry are not permitted, regardless of the event type or purpose.

Daytime spaces are currently under major capital refurbishment and unavailable until September 2025, when new meeting spaces will open. Bookings for these new daytime event spaces will be available from Autumn 2025, with the spaces ready for use from May 2025.

The venue gets fully booked well in advance - November dates are typically unavailable by early in the year, with only December availability mentioned. The booking process involves arranging a site visit first, after which they can place your event date on hold while you finalize details.

Contact the Venue Hire team at +44 (0)207 747 5931 (direct line) or venue.hire@nationalgallery.org.uk. Key contacts include Marcella Meloni (Hospitality and Event Sales-Finance Executive) at +44 (0)207 747 2451 and Helena Fitzgerald (Senior Sales and Marketing Manager) at +44 (0)20 7747 5924.

Exhibition access at the National Gallery is an exclusive benefit of Corporate Support only. For events that include private views of exhibitions, you must contact the Corporate Team separately - this is not available through standard venue hire.