Nuit Blanche, an all-night art festival will take place throughout Athens with different elements of art and performance to help everyone explore their inner artist
The typical all-nighter for a college student includes a large coffee, a mound of textbooks and mixture of frustration and sleep deprivation, but Nuit Blanche gives the term “all-nighter” a whole new meaning.
Live music, dancing and puppets are only the beginning of a sleepless Saturday night. For the second year, Athens will transform for Nuit Blanche on Saturday at precisely 5:03 in the evening.
The event will take place at various venues, including Court Street Coffee, Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery and The Athena Cinema.
Nuit Blanche, which means “White Night” in French, or more loosely translated as “all-nighter,” is an all-night art festival. The festival takes place worldwide, including Paris, Montreal and Los Angeles. It was first brought to Athens in April 2013 by Zelma Badu-Younge, associate director of dance, and Paschal Yao Younge, professor of music education.
The night will include a variety of visual and performing arts, such as art exhibits, paintings, dance, film, musical ensembles and the use of multimedia to create art, Badu-Younge said.
“We try to bring artist from the community with artists from the university together,” Badu-Younge said. “This gives them a chance to work together, share or experience each other’s works.”
Instead of paying for an item, such as a T-shirt, an individual must perform for it, Badu-Younge said.
Participants and the community are invited to start the night by marching down Court Street in the Festival Parade to see all the different venues and start the excitement of the evening, said Jennifer Petrie, a member of the organization committee and a fourth-year Ph.D. student studying Educational Administration.
“It’s really great seeing the variety and diversity of art that’s available in our community,” Petrie said.
But Nuit Blanche is not just for students or faculty members. The event will have activities for people of all ages, including a Pre-Nuit at Howard Park for the children. The Pre-Nuit is a children's arts festival before the official event that will include activities, crafts and live music from children’s steel drum band from Virginia Beach, Petrie said.
“It’s not just for artists, who are established artists. It’s for everybody to explore the artist in them,” Badu-Younge said.
The events are free to the public, aside from a $5 donation to participate in swing dancing with the Jitterbug Club.
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