The International Museum Day event arrives in Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the middle of May. This event originally came to the game as part of an update which included old favourite characters Leif the Sloth, dodgy art dealer Redd, Wedding Season and more.
But what exactly is International Museum Day? Is it another festival like the egg-filled Bunny Day? In this guide you'll find out exactly what to expect from the International Museum Day event in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including the rewards you can get from completing it.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Stamp Rally and International Museum Day Event
When is International Museum Day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
The misleadingly-named International Museum Day in New Horizons isn't a single day at all — the event lasts from 18 May to 31st May, so far from being a blink-and-you'll-miss-it deal, it spans the entire second half of May.
What happens on International Museum Day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Visiting Blathers in the museum during the International Museum Day event enables you to participate in a commemorative Stamp Rally to mark the occasion. By finding three special stamp machines in the fish, fossil, bug and art exhibits throughout the museum, you'll be able to claim in-game rewards.
Where are the stamp machines in the museum?
Each of the four exhibits has three stamp machines, and they are very easy to find by simply exploring the museum. The stamp machine locations vary day-to-day and island-to-island.
Here are a list of the possible stamp machines locations (we'll continue to add to this list until it's complete):
Possible Fish Exhibit Stamp machine locations:
- Abyss
- Big River
- Coral Reef
- Headwaters
- Icy Sea
- Serentity Tank
- The Coast
- The Deep
- The Pond
Possible Fossil Exhibit Stamp machine locations:
- Aquatic Reptiles
- Cenozoic
- Extinction Spot
- Pterosaurs
- Mollusks/Anthropods
- Synapsids
- Vertebrates
Possible Bug Exhibit Stamp machine locations:
- Butterfly Garden
- Coconut Corner
- Dragonfly Bridge
- Giant Tree
- Hiding Bugs
- Quiet Bench
- Shady Path
- Sun-Peek Path
- The Lab
Possible Art Gallery Stamp machine locations:
- Art from the East - section to the immediate right
- Art from the West - section to the far right
- Baroque Gallery - near back of the gallery
- Sculpture Exhibit - in the lower area or mid-right
What rewards do you get for completing the Stamp Rally?
After collecting each of the three stamps in an exhibit, talk to Blathers and he will reward you with a plaque to hang on the wall in your home. There are four plaques to collect and display proudly around your abode (one for each exhibit). Here's one of our happy Mii characters celebrating with theirs:
It's possible to collect multiple copies of these plaques by completing the Stamp Rally each day. Not particularly useful, but hey, maybe you want to gift the plaques to your residents, or build yourself a plaque-filled room filled with nothing but Stamp Rally rewards. Fill your boots from 18th - 31st May!
Does the art exhibit have stamp machines?
Yes! In 2020, the art exhibit didn't play a part in the Stamp Rally. However, Nintendo added the Art Gallery to the list of locations in the April 27th 2021 update.
Do you need to have donated lots of fish, bugs and fossils for the Stamp Rally?
It seems that the number of specimens that you have donated to the museum doesn't affect your ability to collect stamps. It's a simple case of finding the machines throughout the museum and collecting the stamps.
How can I prepare for International Museum Day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Well, you really don't need to do much beside unlocking and upgrading the museum itself. To do so you'll have to start donating fish, bugs and fossils to Blathers (or Tom Nook at the very beginning of the game).
Donating specimens to the museum is something many people do as a matter of course, but if you've been selling your catches for Bells and neglecting the cultural development of your town, there's never been a better time to get philanthropic.
This article is part of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons walkthrough, which includes a Complete Fish List, Complete Bug List and Complete Sea Creatures List. If you're looking for specific fish or bug, we can tell you how to catch the elusive Coelacanth, Mahi-Mahi, Giant Trevally, Stringfish, Golden Trout and all the Sharks and Beetles, along with a full list of Critters leaving at the end of the month. We've also compiled a Complete Villager List and a Complete List of K.K. Slider Songs, as well as the Best Custom Design Codes and Islands we've found so far, and the best islands to visit using Dream Address Codes.
We can also help with How to Spot Redd's Fake Paintings and Statues, How to Make Bells Fast, How to Breed Flowers, How to Get more DIY Recipes, How to Upgrade Nook's Cranny, where and when to find special characters like Gulliver, Sable, Label, Wisp, Celeste, Pirate Gulliver and Jack, plus tips on using the Star Wand, Tool Ring, Rock Trick, Cutting Down and Moving Trees, using amiibo on Harv's Island, How to Back Up Your Island Data, How to Time Travel, How to Get a 5-Star Island Rating and a whole lot more.
And finally Where to Buy Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Nintendo Switch if for some reason you haven't yet picked up the game.
Comments 13
I walked through my museum when it first opened and told myself I wouldn't go through it again until I had donated everything, to get the full experience in one shot. So I'm a little bummed out about this but there's no way I'm skipping an AC event
I surely do belong in a museum. I guess that I would be in the fossils section, along with the other dinosaurs. I'm certainly not a work of art! 😆
I love New Horizons and all, but there's something both very old school Animal Crossing and kind of lame about a holiday where you walk through the museum and find stamps, but it lasts half a month. Having kind of pointless events is totally Animal Crossing tradition: the one where all the animals play sports in the Gamecube one, Yay Day in Wild World, etc etc. The pointlessness of it adds some charm, so I'm not even really complaining. But it does sound like this boils down to walking through the museum at some point during the second half of May.
Clearly the stamp machines move around, as my locations were different to the ones above.
@TryToBeHopeful Yep, we’re investigating this. I’ll update the article again with more info ASAP.
I have the plaques, will that be the only reward for this event?
This article took longer to read than the entire Museum Day event! I was kinda expecting a little more. Presumably that's it now if you've done all 3 today and collected your awards?
@peanutbuttercup same here, first time I've popped in since it opened. Bit gutted to have to do it but there you go...
Seems just like another wasted update like May Day that adds noting and gives nothing in return. Oh well. Why bother bringing back Brewster or Gracie or Katrina when you can just add filler junk days. Nintendo does what Nintendo does best.
@dartmonkey Here are the ones I had that the article doesn't.
Hiding Bugs (in front of ant exhibit)
Bug Farms (in front of orchid mantis exhibit)
Dragonfly Bridge (north west corner of main room, on bridge)
Coral Reef (on top of the walk through tank, in front of coral exibit)
Cenozoic (middle of last room)
Extinction Spot (self explanatory)
Here are my differences:
The Lab
Sun- Peek Path (Bugs)
Cenozoic (Fossils)
The Deep
The Coast (Fish)
@Dodger I'm glad you brought that idea around full circle; trying to contemplate how being "Animal Crossing" in heritage could be a bad thing lol. Certainly in past entries there would tend to be curious events, which give a vibe of being there with little purpose other than to fill a calendar. And perhaps somewhat regretfully given the era of "More is More (fun)," it would seem to be almost a staple of this newest game. Fulfilling arbitrary tasks and general busy work seems to be the mantra.
@OptometristLime I think the garden festival thingy from Wild World is a good example of what I'm talking about. It was a simple event, having flowers around your house gave you points. It was broken, in that flowers would spawn around villager houses and taking them and replanting them at your house counted towards your points. So it was a simple event that probably didn't work as intended. But something about the "we're trying to fill the game with little festivals to make the town feel alive and fun" attitude outweighs that and almost makes the broken activity charming. I've worked in student activities and education: I know what it's like to plan activities that are kind of silly and don't work out as planned for the sake of having a little fun. And walking around a museum for stamps sounds like one. I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say except that Animal Crossing sometimes makes these little bits of bad design work because it has so much charm?
@Dodger yeah agreed, I certainly don't mind a fairly simple event where the idea behind it was clearly of good intent. It's a shame about the flower festival, considering that the GCN original would have perfectly supported the idea with it's unremovable plants. Still a bit hilarious to see how far awry players could take such an innocent festival lol. Considering the game is all about playing your way, a person could ofc leave the flowers alone too, if desired.
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