Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time
arts festival
An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and is not solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...
of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public
art galleries
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...
, 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 art installations, performances (music, film, dance, performance art), themed social gatherings, and other activities.
History
In 1989, the Helsinki Festival established its Night of the Arts, "when every gallery, museum and bookshop is open until midnight or later and the whole city becomes one giant performance and carnival venue". A year later, the mayor of Nantes, Jean-Marc Ayrault's program included renovating the central city and establishing a "contemporary patrimony", which led arts programmer Jean Blaise to create a late-night cultural festival, "Les Allumées" ("Things Alight"). His concept was to have an arts festival in Nantes, from 6 pm to 6 am, over six years with artists from six cities.Les Allumées (in French) /ref>
They were as follows:
*
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, 15–20 October 1990
* St. Petersburg, 14–19 October 1991
*
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, 19–24 October 1992
*
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, 18–23 October 1993
*
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, 17–22 October 1994
*
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
In 1993, a year and a half after the St. Petersburg edition of Les Allumées, the annual White Nights Festival in that city began adding a specifically cultural component to a longstanding annual event that included street carnivals and the Scarlet Sails celebration. The expanded White Nights Festival has included
pop culture
Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
(e.g. the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
in the open air at
Palace Square
Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐrˈtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersb ...
) in 2007 and
high culture
In a society, high culture encompasses culture, cultural objects of Objet d'art, aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers represen ...
events ("Stars of the White Nights Festival" at the Mariinsky Theatre under
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
with a dozen participating schools and exhibitions; the number has risen to 125, with over 150,000 people taking part in the January 2005 night.
In 2001, when Bertrand Delanoë became Mayor of Paris, his deputy, Christophe Girard, invited Blaise to create an event there, and the Nuit Blanche was born. The concept of Les Allumées was scaled down to a single night and focused on the offerings of Paris. "The first night-time trail through the streets of Paris and its contemporary-art scene took place on 5 October 2002, and the opportunity for anyone to explore artistic creation for a night has come back every year since."
The idea of a night-time festival of the arts has spread around the world, with events in over 120 cities, including
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Ottawa,
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Edmonton,
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
, Halifax, Winnipeg and Saskatoon in Canada, and several European capitals (Paris, Brussels, Rome, Madrid, Riga, Bucharest and Valletta) which have chosen to pool their efforts as "Nuits Blanches Europe". The cities share their experiences and exchange projects and artists. Each year, new cities become candidates.
In 2013,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
hosted Australia's first White Night event with the city's galleries, theatres, music venues, laneways, shops and major cultural institutions all showcasing the city's art and culture, food and wine, fashion and sport. This first Melbourne White Night saw an estimated 300,000 people attend, exceeding initial estimates and constituting the largest event of its kind in Australia.
Continuing with its international success, Nuit Blanche was announced to be held in Santiago Chile during 2015, making this important South American capital part of the Nuit Blanche international community. In the capital of Colombia, Bogota, the "Noche en Blanco" was made between 2013 and 2015.