Riga, May 17 (LETA) - More than 245 museums and other organizations shaping public life will take part in the Museum Night, which will start tonight across Latvia, Dace Vizule, public relations specialist at the Culture Ministry told LETA.

This is the 21st year that Latvian museums have taken part in the international campaign, offering the opportunity to visit exhibitions and take part in events specially prepared for the evening.

The motto and theme of the Museum Night - "Stories of Our Values" - was chosen to invite public, municipal and private museums, as well as other organizers of public life, to highlight the most important values in their collections and to communicate them to the public.

In 1999, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication invited European museums to organize a joint international campaign, Spring Day in Museums, which later became Museum Night. The aim is to bring museums to the attention of people who do not visit them on a daily basis.

A few years later, Museum Night became one of the activities linked to the celebration of International Museum Day.