The all-night festival will feature students, alumni, faculty and more in a variety of performances and interactive activities.
Students and their moms can get a taste of an internationally known arts festival this weekend at Athens’ third annual Nuit Blanche.
Nuit Blanche, which translates as “white night,” originates from a French adaptation of a Russian tradition, and uses various forms of art to transform the city for the night. Nuit Blanche is celebrated in more than 120 different major cities around the world including Paris, Melbourne, Buenos Aires and New York. Athens puts a different small-town spin on the popular event.
Co-directors Zelma Badu-Younge and Paschal Yao Younge, both associate professors, first started the event in Athens after attending the event in Toronto, where Badu-Younge performed a dance.
“I thought it was the perfect kind of activity for Athens because we stay up all night anyways,” Badu-Younge said.
This year’s festival will begin at 3:05 p.m. with a children’s festival in Howard Park. The rest of the evening will be filled with performances, lectures, films, displays and workshops done by students, alumni, faculty and international guests from as far as Ghana. The night will end with a finale and conclude at 3:05 a.m. All presentations will be free to all who attend.
The events will be held in various locations around Athens and on campus, including Court Street Coffee, Front Room Coffeehouse and Whit’s Frozen Custard. Festivalgoers can earn free cups of coffee from these locations by participating in the “POP” (pay or perform) component. For example, if an event organizer asks someone to sing a song, they can do so and earn a coupon for a free drink.
Badu-Younge said above all, she hopes participants in the festival will have fun learning or trying something new.
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“Arts make things function,” she said. “And here, people may be able to try them for the first time.”
Younge said he would like Nuit Blanche to become an event that attracts people outside of Athens.
“Hopefully it will grow and become part of the city and something it can embrace,” he said. “We have Halloween, but this is something people can just come to and enjoy the arts.”
Brittni Barranco, a graduate student studying Latin American Studies, has been on the Nuit Blanche planning committee since the first celebration three years ago.
Barranco has a Bachelor’s Degree in drawing and painting, and is also a dancer. She was first asked to help organize the event by Younge and Badu-Younge after participating in the dance and music ensemble Azaguno.
“I think they know my strengths, and my strengths as a visual artist and a dancer” she said. “It was an idea to get to do both art and dance.”
She said her favorite parts of the festival are the children’s programs and the finale.
“It is such a fulfilling feeling to finally see the end of the festival,” she said. “Everybody’s there, and it’s the last spiel of the project. Seeing everybody’s excited faces and all the hard work we put into it. It’s always fun.”
Barranco said she encourages people to come and enjoy the diversity and learn about different cultures through the festival, all free of charge.
“If you’re interested in all kinds of art forms, this is a night for you to come and enjoy that, and it’s free,” she said. “It’s for all ages, and I think it caters to different types of interests. It’s an experience like no other. In our tight-knit, small community, it’s one night together.”
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