Blue Star Museums: free admission to military members and families all summer

Blue Star Museums is a program that provides free admission to over 2,000 museums nationwide to active duty military personnel (including National Guard and Reserve) and their families.

Learn about free days at Charlotte museums!

The program begins on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 2023, and ends on Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 2023.

The military ID holder can bring five family members with him or her, and those family members can include a spouse or child, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.

Check out a huge, day-by-day list of artist, artisan and vintage markets in the Charlotte area!

If the military member is deployed a dependent can still participate in the free program. Read the FAQ for more details, including the documentation you’ll need to bring.

This is an important note from the FAQ:

The military ID holder can be either active duty service member or other dependent family member with the appropriate ID card. The active duty member does not have to be present for family members to use the program. Just bring your DD Form 1173 ID Card, or DD Form 1173-1 ID Card, for active duty military family members.

Here are the Charlotte-area museums that are participating:

Charlotte Museum of History
Wing Haven
Schiele Museum of Natural History (Gastonia)
Historic Brattonsville (McConnels, SC)
Main Stret Children’s Museum (Rock Hill, SC)
Museum of York County (Rock Hill, SC)

And, remember, there are participating museums from around the state and country, so look at the Blue Star Museum Map as you make travel plans, near and far.

Also, more museums might sign up, so check back.

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is not listed on the Blue Star Museum page, but military members and families get free admission all year. Make sure to visit the museum’s website for details.

Please make sure to check to see each museum is open on Memorial Day and Labor Day. Some may not be.