Five Years of M+: Family-Friendly Ways To Celebrate The Museum’s Birthday This November 2026

M+ is five years old this November. Since it opened on the West Kowloon waterfront, it has become one of Hong Kong’s best places for a family day out, with big open spaces, harbour views and art kids actually want to look at. For its birthday, the museum has planned a weekend of events on 7-8 November under the theme “you + me + art + more.” Many of them welcome all ages.

The best part for parents is that several of the most kid-friendly activities are free. Here’s what to book, what to just turn up for, and what to save for date night.

At a Glance: What’s Free?

Tip: Children under 6 get free museum admission. So for families with little ones, a single trip can include a concert, a workshop and a hands-on art activity without paying anything beyond the standard entry tickets.

Drop-in Activity: Pixel Monster

• When: Saturday 7 November, 10am–5:30pm, and Sunday 8 November, 10am–7:30pm
• Where: Lightwell Hall, B1
• Cost: Free, with no registration needed
• Ages: Everyone. Children join with an accompanying adult.

Have your kids ever wished the pixel monsters from their video games could come to life? This is their chance.

Hong Kong creative duo Stickyline designed this activity. Designers Mic Leong and Soilworm Lai are known for their huge, playful paper sculptures. Kids use colourful paper sculpting pieces to build their own blocky pixel creature, with help from M+ Educators. Each finished monster joins the others, so over the weekend the paper monsters gradually build a growing scene that “hacks” the museum space and gives it an unexpected new look.

The activity ties in with the museum’s new special exhibition, Myths and Monsters: The Art of Fantasy in Asia (West Gallery, L2, until 4 April 2027). If your family has tickets, you can go up afterwards and see where the inspiration came from.

Good to know:

• It’s self-guided and first come, first served. If it’s at capacity, staff will ask you to queue and will let you in as soon as possible.
• Families who can’t make Saturday have a longer window on Sunday, until 7:30pm.
• This is the easiest activity to fit around naps and meltdowns, because there are no time slots to worry about.

Creative Workshop: Pinhole Cinema

• When: Saturday 7 November. Sessions at 10:15am, 11:45am, 2:30pm (fully booked) and 4:15pm, each about 75 minutes.
• Where: Workshop 2, Learning Hub
• Cost: No extra charge. On Saturday it’s included with a same-day M+ Ticket.
• Languages: Cantonese and English
• Ages: Children of all ages, with adults

This workshop gives families a completely new way to look at a museum. M+ Educators help each participant build a DIY “Pinhole Cinema” viewing box, a simple device that plays with light. You then carry it through the museum and use it to look at the space from new angles and perspectives.

You also get to keep the box. Families can take it home and keep experimenting with light around the city, whether that’s on the Star Ferry, in the park or at the window at home.

The workshop was created with LENS, an independent creative lab in Tokyo founded by designers Kenichi Okada and Kunie Hiyamizui. That makes it a bit of an international design experience for kids.

Good to know:

• Saturday sessions need advance registration and a same-day M+ Ticket. M+ Members and children under 6 get in free but still need to register. Members’ guests aged 7 and over need M+ Tickets.
• Sunday’s sessions (8 November) are all fully booked. They don’t need an M+ Ticket. If you do have a booking, enter via the Art Park Entrance.
• Arrive at Workshop 2 10 minutes early to check in.
• You’ll sit on the floor and move around the museum, so wear comfortable clothes. A limited number of chairs is available for elderly participants, pregnant women and anyone else who needs one.
• Bring a big bag (larger than 30 x 35 x 25 cm) so you can get your viewing box home in one piece.

We Send Music: The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura

• When: Saturday 7 November, 4pm, and Sunday 8 November, 3:30pm
• Where: Grand Stair (with a Sunday pop-up at Artist Square)
• Ages: Recommended for ages 4 and up

This is the big event of the anniversary. The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura is making its Hong Kong debut. It’s made up of children and young people from communities near the Cateura landfill in Asunción, Paraguay. They play violins, cellos and other instruments that local artisans build from rubbish recovered from the landfill.

The orchestra is led by musician and environmental technician Favio Chávez. It plays everything from classical, folk and Latin American music to film scores and even symphonic metal. The roughly hour-long concert is a didactic (teaching) performance about how sustainability and music connect. M+ added some of the orchestra’s instruments to its collection in 2024, and they’re on display in the exhibition Making It Matters. Kids can see the instruments in the gallery and then hear similar ones played live.

Good to know: Saturday’s concert is free with an M+ Ticket, but you need to register in advance. It ends with a talk with Favio Chávez. Sunday’s relaxed sunset pop-up at Artist Square suits toddlers who can’t sit through a full show. The documentary Landfill Harmonic (84 minutes, in Spanish with Chinese and English subtitles) is also being screened at the Grand Stair.

Creative Workshop: Make Your Own Recycled Instrument

• When: Saturday 7 November, 4:30–5:45pm, and Sunday 8 November, 10–11:15am
• Where: The Forum

This is the natural follow-on to the concert. Families turn plastic bottles, tin cans and cardboard into working instruments to take home. Every child under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, and spaces are limited.

In-Gallery Encounters

• When: 7–8 November, drop-in between 10am and 6pm
• Where: Various locations around the museum

M+ Educators and Volunteer Guides lead free sessions of 15 to 30 minutes, a good length for short attention spans. Highlights include a sensory stroll that asks “Is art only meant to be seen, or can it be heard and felt?” There are also short tours on architecture, M+ Cinema and the galleries. Places are first come, first served. Arrive five minutes early, and note that the L2 galleries need an M+ Ticket.

Anniversary Perks

• November birthdays: Throughout November, anyone born that month can collect a free M+ “Very Hong Kong” Plush Keychain Blind Box. Show a same-day paid admission ticket and proof of your birth date. It’s available while stocks last.
• Membership offer: Join or renew by 30 November with code BDAY13M2026 to get an extra month and a limited-edition M+ Miniature. Members get free admission all year and priority booking for workshops like Pinhole Cinema, which is worth having when sessions sell out this fast.

For the Grown-Ups

M+ at Night: Five With Us (Friday 6 November, 7pm to midnight) is 18+ only, and public tickets have sold out. The Compassionate Festival 2026 @ M+ slow-looking tours are also aimed at adults.