British Museum to host second fundraising ball with red theme

The British Museum will hold its second fundraising ball on 17 October 2026 during Frieze Week, with tickets priced at £3,500 per person including a donation. The event, with artistic direction by Es Devlin, aims to raise funds for the museum's £1bn masterplan, which includes reworking the Western range, new welcome pavilions, and an energy centre. The theme is red, described as the earliest pigment used by humans in artistic expression, tying into upcoming exhibitions: the Bayeux Tapestry (10 September 2026–11 July 2027), Declaring independence: USA 250 (until 29 November 2026), and Korea (1 October 2026–31 January 2027). Hedge fund billionaire Igor Tulchinsky, founder of WorldQuant with $17bn in assets and a personal fortune of $1.7bn, will serve as honorary chair after reportedly donating £5m for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition. Last year's Pink Ball raised £2.5m gross (over £2m net) with over 800 guests including Rishi Sunak, Sadiq Khan, Grayson Perry, and Tracey Emin, but was disrupted by a climate protester and criticized by Greece's Ministry of Culture for using the Parthenon sculptures as a backdrop.