V&A East opens April 18

V&A East Museum is set to open in Stratford, east London, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, as the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new public site at East Bank. (vam.ac.uk) The museum’s address is 107 Carpenters Road, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20 2AR, and general admission will be free. Some exhibitions and events will be ticketed, and the main entrance is on Aquatic Walk. (vam.ac.uk) The building will have five floors and more than 500 objects in its permanent displays, according to the museum. The V&A said the site was designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey and developed with its Youth Collective and other east London partners. (vam.ac.uk; vanda-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com) V&A East is the museum group’s two-site expansion in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Its first site, V&A East Storehouse, opened on May 31, 2025, and the museum opening on April 18, 2026 completes the public rollout of that plan. (vam.ac.uk; queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk; vanda-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com) The opening also fills in another major piece of East Bank, the cultural quarter built as part of the Olympic Park’s long-term redevelopment. East Bank’s listed partners include the British Broadcasting Corporation Music Studios, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, Sadler’s Wells East, University College London East and V&A East. (queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk; london.gov.uk) The museum’s permanent core will be two free “Why We Make” galleries focused on art, design, fashion, music and performance. The V&A said the displays will connect historic works with newer acquisitions from east London and beyond. (vanda-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com; vam.ac.uk) Its first headline temporary show will be “The Music is Black: A British Story,” opening the same day as the museum. The V&A said the exhibition will trace Black British music from 1900 to the present with objects linked to Joan Armatrading, Little Simz and JME, alongside photographs by Jennie Baptiste, Dennis Morris, Eddie Otchere and Sam White. (vam.ac.uk; vanda-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com) The museum has also tied the launch to practical visitor planning. The V&A says Stratford Underground, Overground, National Rail and Stratford International are each about a 10-minute walk away, while nearby car parking is limited and visitors are advised to use public transport. (vam.ac.uk) For the V&A, April 18 is not just an opening date but the public debut of a new museum base in London’s east end, next to institutions that were brought into the park after the 2012 Olympics. The museum is already promoting opening-weekend visits from April 18 to April 20. (queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk; queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk; vam.ac.uk)