As the Burnaby Village Museum gets set to wrap up another season this weekend, directors of the site are heralding 2013 as one of the best season's yet.
Thanks to the ongoing free admission, Nancy Stagg, marketing director for the museum, said this summer was a fabulous one at the museum.
"(The season) was very strong. The weather had something to do with it, obviously, but I think the word is out that the gate admission is free," she said.
Feedback from guests this season all pointed to the free admission as the top reason why they visited the site - some of the guests even indicated they'd visited the museum more than once this summer, Stagg added.
"We've scheduled different entertainment or different focuses to the various days so it gives people a reason to come back again," she said.
Some new activities included site tours that take visitors behind the scenes for a unique look at the Burnaby Village Museum.
"They'll take you into some locations that aren't normally staffed and give you what we call a behind-the-scenes tour," she said.
These special tours run three times a week and there are also carousel tours on weekends, where visitors can check out the inner workings of the 100-year-old carousel.
This is the third year the Burnaby Village Museum has offered free admission to visitors.
City council approved free admission for the museum as part of its 40th anniversary year in 2011, which, as previously reported by the NOW, saw an increase in attendance of 257 per cent.
Since then, council has continued to approve free admission for the museum as a way to remove barriers to people looking to check out the site, Stagg said.
This weekend's Labour Day fair - which runs from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 2 - includes a variety of activities and entertainers for all demographics, including a
yo-yo master, heritage games for the kids and radio displays.
For more information on the fair, visit http://bit.ly/P7DAFF.
For the full version of this story, go to www. burnabynow.com.
