Almost 160,000 visit Wallace & Gromit exhibition

Almost 160,000 people visited a Wallace & Gromit exhibition at a Lancashire museum in its first event after a four-year closure.

Queues for the 'Wallace & Gromit in A Case at the Museum' Exhibit at The Harris Museum, Preston, snaked across The Flag Market between Christmas and New Year. A daily 13:00 cut-off was introduced to manage visitor numbers.

The event, from September to January, celebrated the comedy animation created by local writer Nick Park. It was held at the Grade I-listed museum after a £19.2m refurbishment.

Preston councillor Anna Hindle, who oversees culture and arts, said: "We have been surprised and genuinely delighted by the reaction to The Harris' opening exhibition."

The museum said it had averaged 14,500 visitors a week in its opening month, more than double the number of people who had visited the museum before it closed for renovation.

The exhibition included a recreation of Wallace's living room, which Hindle said was modelled on Nick Park's grandmother's home in Preston.

"Lots of people would sit in the chairs, get the newspapers out, and try and recreate a scene from Wallace & Gromit," she said.

Hindle said the attendance figures were "incredibly encouraging, and we hope this continues into the New Year".

Exhibitions scheduled for 2026 at The Harris include The World of Martin Brown: Horrible Histories and Other Dazzling Drawings as well as Horrockses Fashions: Everyday Glamour & the Art of British Ready-to-Wear.

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