The Moon is returning to Merseyside

As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, it’s been announced that the moon will be coming to Birkenhead Town Hall as part of Wirral’s year as Borough of Culture for Liverpool City Region.

Artist Luke Jerram’s breath-taking and world-renowned installation Museum of the Moon will be on show from Friday 25 October – Friday 15 November, giving visitors an extraordinary, up-close view of the moon’s surface.

Tomorrow (Saturday 20 July) marks 50 years since man first set foot on the moon, when the Apollo 11 mission successfully touched down. Visitors will be able to experience the moon for themselves, with extremely detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. Each centimetre of the 7m internally lit sculpture represents 5km of the moon’s surface.Museum of the Moon will be suspended in the stunning surroundings of the Assembly Room of the Grade II* listed Birkenhead Town Hall.

MORE: Everything you need to know for LIMF 2019

Birkenhead Museum/Town Hall

Museum of the Moon has been seen all over the world and last year wowed visitors to Liverpool Cathedral. The installation is a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones. The world-famous installation will be accompanied by a special programme of lunar-inspired events beneath it.

The installation will form part of a season of cultural events and activities linked to the moon and stars called Constellations which will inspire audiences of all ages across Wirral, encouraging everyone to look up and enjoy Wirral’s big skies. More announcements about the Constellations programme will be made over the coming months.

Cllr Christine Spriggs, Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism said: “We are delighted that the moon is coming to Wirral during our Borough of Culture year. Luke Jerram’s awe-inspiring installation will bring the moon almost close enough to touch and capture the imagination of visitors, especially our children and young people during their October half-term holidays.

“Birkenhead Town Hall is one of the borough’s finest buildings and will be a wonderful setting for this innovative installation which has enchanted and connected audiences across the world.”

The Borough of Culture initiative was introduced by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and is designed to encourage cultural activities across the region.

MORE: Liverpool is still thriving despite World Heritage concerns

Museum of the Moon is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. Co-commissioned by a number of creative organisations brought together by Luke Jerram and Norfolk & Norwich Festival. These include: We The Curious, Kimmel Center, Lakes Alive, Provincial Domain Dommelhof, Brighton Festival, Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, Without Walls, Les Tombées de la Nuit, Rennes and Cork Midsummer Festival. The artwork has also been created in Councilship with the UK Space Agency, University of Bristol and The Association for Science and Discovery Centres.

Entrance to Museum of the Moon will be free of charge, with public viewing dates and times to be announced. Some events will be chargeable.

Check out our video for when it was at Liverpool Cathedral.