White Night festivals - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The White Nights are a kind of all-night arts festival

Arts festival

An arts festival is a festival that focuses on the visual arts in all its forms, but which may also focus on or include other arts.Arts festivals in the visual arts are exhibitions and are not to be confused with the commercial art fair. Artists participate in the most important of such festival...

held in many cities in the summer. The original festival is the White Nights Festival

White Nights Festival

The White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia is an annual international arts festival during the season of the midnight sun. The White Nights Festival consists of a series of classical ballet, opera and music events and includes performances by Russian dancers, singers, musicians and actors,...

held in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The white nights is the name given in areas of high latitude to the weeks around the summer solstice

Summer solstice

The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...

in June during which sunsets are late, sunrises are early and darkness is never complete. In Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, the Sun does not set until after 10 p.m., and the twilight

Twilight

Twilight is the time between dawn and sunrise or between sunset and dusk, during which sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere illuminates the lower atmosphere, and the surface of the earth is neither completely lit nor completely dark. The sun itself is not directly visible because it is below...

lasts almost all night.

The White Nights Festival

White Nights Festival

in Saint Petersburg is famous for spectacular fireworks and Scarlet Sails

Scarlet Sails (tradition)

The Scarlet Sails is a celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia is the most massive and famous public event during the White Nights Festival. The tradition is highly popular for spectacular fireworks, numerous music concerts, and a massive water-show including battle among tens of boats full of...

, a massive show celebrating the end of school year. Other festivals following this lead have arisen, using names such as White Night, Light Nights or Nuit Blanche

Nuit Blanche

Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for...

, see that article for examples around the world.

Nomenclature

Some cities use the French phrase Nuit blanche (or Nuits blanches, if the event is spread over more than one night). Some use the same words in their language: White Nights, La Notte Bianca (Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

), La Noche en Blanco (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

), Noaptea alba (Romanian

Romanian language

Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

), Nata e Bardhe (Albanian

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

), Baltā Nakts in Latvian

Latvian language

Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...

. Others invent their own names, such as Lejl Imdawwal ("Lit Night") in Maltese

Maltese language

Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English,while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic...

, Virada Cultural in São Paulo, Taiteiden yö ("Night of the arts

Night of the arts

The Night of the Arts is an annual event held in several major cities in Finland, in late August. It is one of many White Night festivals held worldwide....

") in Finland, and Kulturnatten ("Night of Culture") in Copenhagen.

Paris and the Nuit Blanche

The first city outside of Russia to host such a festival was apparently Paris, which has had its famous Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for...

festival since 2001, when it was started by mayor Bertrand Delanoë

Bertrand Delanoë

Bertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...

.

In Finland a Night of the Arts

Night of the arts

The Night of the Arts is an annual event held in several major cities in Finland, in late August. It is one of many White Night festivals held worldwide....

(Finnish: Taiteiden yö, Swedish: Konstens natt) is an annual event held in several major cities in late August. First Night of the Arts

Night of the arts

The Night of the Arts is an annual event held in several major cities in Finland, in late August. It is one of many White Night festivals held worldwide....

was held in 1989 in Helsinki.

Many other cities have followed.
(Listed in chronological order)

Tel Aviv

The first Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

Layla Lavan (Hebrew for "white night" but also IDF

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

slang for "a night of continuous activity with no sleep") festival was held in 2003, to mark UNESCO's awarding of World Heritage status to the White City, Tel Aviv's internationally renowned collection of over 4,000 Bauhaus

Bauhaus

', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...

or International-style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

buildings constructed in the 1930s by German Jewish architects who immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine after the rise of the Nazis. A White Nights Festival seemed an appropriate way to celebrate the White City. Tel Aviv's reputation as a party city made the festival an annual event, and municipal ordinances now allow businesses to remain open all night on the last Thursday in June.

Italy

In 2005, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

's Notte Bianca (Eng.: White Night) was held in mid-September, and the guest star was Roberto Benigni

Roberto Benigni

Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television.- Early years :...

. There were similar initiatives in other cities as well. In Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

it first took place at the end of October 2005 with numerous concerts (Baglioni, Pino Daniele, 99 Posse, Almamegretta, Stadio) and theatrical and cultural events. The attendance was twice the population of Naples itself. Other Italian Notte Bianche took place in Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, Reggio Calabria

Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...

, and Catanzaro.

Britain

The British festivals are called Light night and began in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

in 2005 as part of the launch of the region-wide Illuminate Cultural Festival. In Leeds in October 2005, these 'unusual cultural events' included a string quartet playing at the top of the Town Hall clock tower, a tour round a pitch black church with only a torch and a sinister audio-guide that could not be trusted, and a 'Treasure Hunt' from the Institute for Crazy Dancing. The Treasure Hunt involved 200 audience members being led across the city and becoming a show in their own right, collecting white boiler suits and umbrellas en route, and dancing up and down Briggate

Briggate

Briggate is one of the pedestrianised principal shopping streets in central Leeds, England. Most of Leeds' department stores are on Briggate, including the Harvey Nichols branch. It is home to a number of major high street retailers as well as banks, restaurants and cafes. Recently there have been...

, the main shopping street, with three shire horses, an ice cream van and the bagpipes of Leeds Pipe Band.

Leeds was joined by Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

and Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

for Light Night 2006. Several other major cities across the country including Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

hosted Light Night events in 2008. This has spread even further in 2009 and includes Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

and Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

. Brighton and Hove launched an official partner event 'White Night' in 2008. Produced by Brighton and Hove Arts Commission, the event is partnered with the annual event in Amiens and sees the cities' arts venues, theatres, galleries and outdoor spaces play host to a wide selection of arts activities, shows, installations, tours and trails. In 2009, a British network of Light Night towns and cities was established.

Montreal

Started in 2003, Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

was the first Canadian city to adopt the Nuit blanche concept. The event is the finale of the week-long Montreal High Lights Festival. In 2011, the festival will be held on February 26, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and will feature some 200 mostly free indoor and outdoor events throughout the city. Most of the events will be held in the Plateau-Mont-Royal, the Olympic Stadium, the Quartier des Spectacles

Quartier des Spectacles

Quartier des Spectacles is an entertainment district located in the eastern section of Downtown Montreal. The area is currently undergoing gentrification and urban renewal that will turn it into the centre for Montreal's cultural events and festivals....

downtown, the old city and port, and throughout the metropolis' famous underground city

Underground city

An Underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of these. The term may also refer to a network of tunnels that...

(the biggest in the world). The STM

STM

STM, an abbreviation, may refer to:In technology:*Scanning tunneling microscope, a non-optical microscope*Signature tagged mutagenesis, a genetic technique to create random mutants...

, Montreal's transit authority, offers night-long metro service as well as special shuttle buses between events. In 2010, the event attracted 325,000 people. The Nuit Blanche is sponsored by Hydro-Quebec

Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....

Toronto

In 2006, Nuit Blanche came to Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. Christophe Girard, Deputy Mayor of Paris, who instituted the Parisian Nuit Blanche in 2002, traveled there to help launch the event, praising its citizens for their love of "the magic and the mysteries of the night". Attendance at this inaugural event was estimated by City Hall to have been 425,000 people; the following year almost doubled that, attracting 800,000 revelers. In 2008 and 2009 this number increased to close to a million. Toronto's event is now sponsored by Scotiabank, and is officially named "Scotiabank Nuit Blanche". The 5th edition of Nuit Blanche for Toronto was held on October 2, 2010.

Malta

2006 also saw the first Lejl Imdawwal (Lit Night) in Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, in the capital city of Valletta

Valletta

Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...

. Throughout the fortified city, shops remained open. The Co-Cathedral of St.John was open for display.

Iceland

The summer solstice in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

is celebrated on the 24th of June, on the day of St. John the Baptist, when only three hours of modest darkness are experienced in the region of Reykjavik

Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

. It is called Jónsmessa

Jónsmessa

Jónsmessa, also known as Midsummer Night, is an Icelandic holiday celebrated on June 24. It is named after John the Baptist. According to Icelandic folklore, cows gain the powers of speech, seals become human, and it is healthy to roll naked in the dew-covered grass on Jónsmessa...

, and it is usually celebrated in small groups of family or friends around bonfires. On this day all of nature is thought to work in an unusual way, with rocks and herbs gaining magical powers, cows gaining the ability to speak, seals take on human form, and elves emerge from the netherworld. During this night, people roll around naked in the dew of the shortest night to wash themselves of the past year and bring good luck. It is also known as the Viking New Year.

Chicago

In 2007, Looptopia

Looptopia

Looptopia was a dusk-to-dawn cultural event that was held in 2007 and 2008 in the city of Chicago. Billed as "Chicago's White Night", Looptopia was modeled after Nuit Blanche held annually in Paris. It premiered on the evening of May 11 through the morning May 12, 2007 in Chicago's central business...

was held in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

in May, the first event of its type held in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

San Antonio

Luminaria is San Antonio’s adaptation of “White Nights”, originally conceived in Paris, France in 2002, in an attempt to bring contemporary art to the masses in public spaces. “White Nights” is a 12-hour event with a goal of making contemporary art accessible to large audiences, while inspiring dialogue and engaging the public to examine its significance and impact on public space. It is a free event that encourages celebration and community engagement. For one night, spaces are transformed into temporary exhibitions. Luminaria is celebrating its fourth year (2008-2011) as a part of this international movement.

Lima

In 2008, Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

hosted a Noche en Blanco in mid-May, within the framework of cultural activities of the fifth Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit

Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit

The Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit is a biennial meeting of heads of state and government of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union...

. The capital of South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

threw its first nocturnal cultural festival, Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

Open Night, in August that year, estimating a draw of about 100,000 citizens at six downtown districts. Santa Monica

Santa Mônica

Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

, California, hosted its first biannual all-night festival under the name of Glow, inspired by Nuit Blanche, on July 19 on the famous Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier

The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent, 100-year-old landmark.-Pacific Park:...

, on the beach

Santa Monica State Beach

Santa Monica State Beach is a California State Park operated by the city of Santa Monica.-Santa Monica Beach:The beach is located along Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica...

north and south of the Pier and in the nearby Palisades Park. Over 200,000 people attended and enjoyed 27 original commissioned artworks with over 100 participating artists.

Nomenclature

Paris and the Nuit Blanche

Tel Aviv

Italy

Britain

Montreal

Toronto

Malta

Iceland

Chicago

San Antonio

Lima

See also