Highland Folk Museum (HFM) plans to join the bounceback campaign when it reopens to the public on 29th July. The site operated by High Life Highland was due to reopen for the 2020 season in April but due to the pandemic was unable to do so.
Operations Manager Lesley Junor said: “We are delighted to be able to welcome visitors to the Folk Museum next week as part of our bounceback campaign. Our priority is the safety of our staff and customers, while still providing an enjoyable experience when people come to visit. We are introducing a range of measures to ensure this as far as possible including asking customers to follow social distancing guidelines and wear a face covering when entering the shop.”
Initially the site will be open Wednesday to Sunday from 10,30 am to 4pm with last entry at 3pm. Customers will have to pre-book a time slot online for arrival to avoid congestion and reduce queuing times at the entrance. Other measures in place are additional cleaning of toilets and playparks and frequent cleaning of high contact areas.
Lesley Junor continued, “We have tried to make the experience as close to “business-as-usual”. For example, we are unable to open our café due to the Government’s social distancing measures, however we will be providing a takeaway service for teas coffees and snacks in our newly created picnic area.”
The Highland folk Museum is a large outdoor museum with lots of wide-open areas with the whole site measuring just over a mile in total length. There are various historic buildings to be enjoyed including a 1930s sweetie shop. This site is divided into four main areas – Aultlarie Croft, a 1930s working farm, Balameanach (Middle Village) with a developing community of re-located buildings, the Pinewoods and ‘Baile Gean’ the Museum’s unique re-construction of an early 1700s Highland Township. Visitors can discover how Highland people lived, worked, and dressed, how they produced food, cooked and what they ate from the 1700s up to 1950s.
As a reminder of the social distancing measure in place customers are being invited to stay the length of a Highland cow apart which is two meters.
Steve Walsh, Chief Executive concluded, “Our staff have been working extremely hard behind the scenes to get this amazing visitor attraction ready to welcome our customers back, The Highland Folk Museum is a big part of the local community offering to support tourism providers in the area and we are all looking forward to playing our part in bouncing back from the pandemic.”
