A great many countries, such as Switzerland and Russia, celebrated the occasion by allowing free admission into museums and exhibitions or by organising open days. Meetings and general assemblies were held to coincide with the event. In Barbados the ICOM National Committee open day was integrated into Cultural Heritage Week and at the National Committee General Assembly in Cameroon, conference speeches were devoted to the theme and a visit to the Douala Museum was organised. Austria held a symposium of specialists in the Linz Castle Museum, who debated the current social context of the museum institution, stressing the transformations linked to the new economic rôle of the museum and the difficulties of coping with the range of demands made on museum professionals today. Peru organised a month-long programme of conferences and visits nationwide, which illustrated the importance of the museum as a catalyst for national culture and integration. Hong Kong held a highly successful "Museums Panorama" with academic and educational events as well as a programme of entertainment. In Brazil, SEM, which represents state-run museums, organised over fifty events in the regions of Rio Grande do Sul, including the third meeting of the National Committee. The programme emphasised the decentralisation and democratisation of knowledge, aimed at preserving our cultural and social memory. ICOFOM Brazil also published a greetings card on its website, which read "Solidarity is learning to work through difference. Happy International Museums Day!"

For the first time, ICOM-Germany, the German Museums' Association and regional museum groups turned International Museum Day into a nationwide event, by holding a press conference and producing a specially commissioned poster. Croatia also designed an original poster, while Spain published both a poster and a detailed leaflet explaining the theme and in Badalona opened a number of archaeological sites normally closed to the public. Iran's National Committee printed a catalogue of International Museum Day events all over the country. The Museum of Fine Arts in Paraguay held an exhibition to coincide with 18th May, dedicated "to all the museums in the world" , featuring the country's rich tradition of ceramics, the symbol of the collective memory of the Paraguayan people. Bolivia marked the occasion by producing a gift box of postcards representing the lavish exhibition of textiles held in the National Ethnological and Folklore Museum. The box included a detailed explanation of this year's theme in the Bolivian context, stressing the rôle of textiles both as everyday and ritual objects as an expression of national identity and social cohesion, through the involvement and participation of local communities.
Malta devoted 18th May to "the state of the historic heritage in Bormla (Cospicua)". A conference was organised to stir public opinion in the face of the irreparable destruction caused to Bormla's heritage, much of it destroyed for the sake of modern housing projects, and detailed proposals to protect and preserve the site were outlined before national heritage professionals and the general public.