Nuit Blanche

For one night only, Paris will not sleep. Starting at 7pm on October 3, Paris will celebrate the 8^th consecutive Nuit Blanche, or sleepless night. Every year in the fall the City of Light stays awake to showcase a smorgasbord of free contemporary art.

Paris is the star serving as both muse and museum for the artists and their admirers. There is no theme this year, just the locations. The action will take place in three principal areas of the city: the Buttes-Chaumont in the North East, the Châtelet and the Marais section in the center, and the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank. Artists have to take the space into consideration, and at Nuit Blanche, the space is public. Parks, streets, historic monuments, metros and museums serve as the canvass for this extraordinary evening. Nuit Blanche thrusts the viewer into a universe of sculpture, film, theater, music, painting, photography and just about anything else the artists can throw at the senses.

With the metro line 11 open all night, activities for kids and accessibility for everyone, it is the perfect time to take advantage of a different and enchanting side of Paris. This is the Paris that Parisians take love to advantage of.

Recognizing the need to make culture and art available to everyone, the Nuit Blanche concept has spread.  Certain towns around Paris as well as other French cities will also be showcasing contemporary art during the weekend. Other cities across the world have created similar festivals.

For those of you lucky enough to be in Paris this weekend, put on your walking shoes and follow the crowds to Nuit Blanche where you are sure to be sous le charme of a Paris that is sleepless only once a year.

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