Tickets to the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington D.C. are “sold out” through March 2017. Though there is no cost to get in the museum, you need a ticket with a date to enter.
The museum, which opened September 24 with a lot of fanfare, came after years of planning and delays. And everyone expected a lot of love and interest. But no one foresaw this level of frenzy.
“Did any of us think we were going to be the next Beyonce or Bruce Springsteen? No,” says Beverly Morgan-Welch, the museum’s associate director for external affairs.
The museum did conduct a study prior to the opening, and accordingly expected 7,500 visitors daily. Instead, close to 30,000 people are pouring in most days.
“Their desire to come is overwhelming our ability to get them in the building,” Morgan-Welch said. “There just isn’t enough space.”
The museum hopes to release next month the next batch of passes, which run from April through June 2017.
People are also spending more time than usual at the museum, which has five floors, 12 exhibitions and 3,000 objects on display. In a typical museum, visitors spend about two hours browsing. But people are staying close to six hours at this museum, Morgan-Welch says.