Wallace & Gromit Draw Nearly 160,000 Fans to Lancashire Museum Bash!

The Wallace and Gromit exhibition at The Harris Museum in Preston attracted almost 160,000 visitors, making it a huge success for the museum’s reopening after being closed for four years. The event, titled 'Wallace & Gromit in A Case at the Museum,' ran from September to January and was the first major exhibition since the museum’s renovation. During the busy holiday season, especially between Christmas and New Year, crowds lined up across the Flag Market, eager to see the beloved clay animation characters. To handle the large number of guests, the museum introduced a daily cut-off time at 1:00 pm.

The exhibition celebrated the work of Nick Park, the local writer and animator who created Wallace and Gromit. One of the highlights was a recreation of Wallace’s living room, which was designed to look like Nick Park’s grandmother’s home in Preston. Visitors enjoyed sitting in the chairs, reading newspapers, and acting out scenes from the famous animations. Anna Hindle, the councillor responsible for culture and arts in Preston, said she was both surprised and delighted by the public’s response to the museum’s reopening. She noted that the museum averaged 14,500 visitors per week in its first month, which was more than twice the number of visitors before the renovation.

Hindle described the attendance numbers as incredibly encouraging and expressed hope that the museum would continue to attract large crowds in the future. The Harris Museum has already announced exciting exhibitions for 2026, including 'The World of Martin Brown: Horrible Histories and Other Dazzling Drawings' and 'Horrockses Fashions: Everyday Glamour & the Art of British Ready-to-Wear. ' The museum is committed to bringing more engaging and creative events to Lancashire, and it encourages people to share their ideas for future stories and exhibitions. The success of the Wallace and Gromit exhibition shows how much people in the community value art, culture, and the chance to celebrate local talent.