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. Some smaller spaces like the Yves Saint Laurent room start from £10,000 + VAT for up to 60 people.

Catering, production, florist, and entertainment are all in addition to the facility fee and must be provided through the venue's approved suppliers from their Accredited Supplier List. You can extend events beyond the standard end times (22:00 or 23:00) up to 02:00 at £2,000 + VAT per hour. All suppliers must be selected from the venue's accredited list - you cannot bring your own.

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 events typically starting from 18:45/19:00. The venue also cannot host events on New Year's Eve due to Trafalgar Square celebrations and road closures that prevent supplier access.

Daytime spaces are currently unavailable as they are undergoing major capital refurbishment. The new daytime meeting spaces will be available for booking from September 2025, with the spaces opening in Autumn 2025. Only evening event hire from 18:45 is currently available.

The venue can accommodate dinners for up to 350 guests and receptions for up to 1,200 guests. Specific spaces have different capacities - for example, the Yves Saint Laurent room accommodates up to 60 people for £10,000 + VAT, while evening hire starting at £18,000 + VAT is quoted for 300 people. The Pigott Theatre evening hire starts at £15,000 + VAT.

The venue cannot host ticketed events as per gallery policy. This means events where guests purchase tickets for entry are not permitted. All events must be private hire arrangements rather than public ticketed events.

The venue gets fully booked well in advance, with November dates often unavailable and bookings already being taken for Autumn 2025. After initial enquiry and quote, the next step is to arrange a site visit of the spaces, after which they can place your event date on hold. You should contact them as early as possible to secure your preferred date.

Exhibition access at the National Gallery is an exclusive benefit of Corporate Support and is not included in standard venue hire. To host events that include private views of exhibitions, you must contact the Corporate Team separately. This is not available through regular venue hire arrangements.

Evening events typically run with guest access from 18:45/19:00. Standing receptions are three hours ending at 22:00, while seated dinners are four hours ending at 23:00. Events can be extended beyond these times up to 02:00 at £2,000 + VAT per hour. The venue closes to the public at 18:00 on most days (except Fridays when it closes at 21:00).

Contact the Venue Hire team on +44 (0)207 747 5931 or the direct extensions provided by individual team members. You should provide your event date, number of guests, event type, and budget when enquiring. The team includes Hospitality & Events Managers and Sales & Marketing Executives who handle different aspects of bookings.