A massive crowd full of Toronto residents and tourists showed up at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) over the weekend in hopes of visiting the museum for free in celebration of its 110th anniversary. 

Last week, the downtown museum announced that all guests would be offered free admission on Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., and the opportunity to visit special exhibitions — which are normally charged separately — for free. 

Free admission to the ROM this weekend. 👀 pic.twitter.com/CZhMT7Ozxv

— Justice_Queen ⚖️ 🔰🪬 (@RE_MarketWatch) March 24, 2024

"Due to the anticipated number of visitors expected and building capacity limits, there may be wait times for entry," the announcement read. 

As expected with any free event in Toronto, hundreds of museum lovers showed up to the two-day event, and multiple videos on social media show a large crowd of visitors waiting patiently outside. 

For free @ROMtoronto today. lineup was long but fast moving..we arrived 11:10am, were inside at 11:35am.. nice pic.twitter.com/axGYthufQ7

— nicolas bello 🐀 (@nbellotoronto) March 24, 2024

"I hate lines!!! But it's awesome they made it free so many people wanted to attend. We need more of this," one person wrote under a now-viral TikTok of the lineup, which amassed over 150,000 views in just a few days. 

Despite what the videos show, many visitors reported that the line was actually moving fast, especially when considering how many people attended the event. 

It’s nice to have a freebie but you can’t properly enjoy the ROM even on paid weekends due to the crowds.

— José Custódio de Faria (@Abade_Faria) March 24, 2024

"I went and the line goes by ridiculously fast. I waited 20 minutes to get inside. The line looks scarier than the actual wait time," another person commented under the TikTok. 

Hope people didn’t just line up hearing ‘free’ and skipped the part that it’s a museum. 🙂‍↔️😬

— t (@t420220) March 24, 2024

Other respondents pointed out that the museum is free for everyone on the third Tuesday night of each month, and includes free access to all galleries, plus special exhibitions. The next free night at the ROM falls on April 16. 

blogTO reached out to the ROM to get an estimate of how many people showed up to the two-day event but did not get a response back in time for this article's publication.