White Nights festivals are all-night parties that take place between the end of summer and beginning of autumn. Traditionally, White Nights take place in cities near the Arctic Circle during the summer solstice where there are several days without darkness and many bright cities would hold events around the clock in celebration. Other cities have been inspired by the spirit of a round-the-clock festival such as Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris and Montreal to name a few and now there is even an entire European circuit of festivals. While the cities in Europe don’t experience a true white night, the spirit of the festival is alive and the idea of bringing out residents and visitors alike to explore the art, music and theater within the car-free city centers under the glow of the moonlight is enchanting.

In Madrid, one of the larger festival desinations, La Noche En Blanco 2009 itself was even split up into its own circuits; the Music Circuit, the Visual Arts Circuit, the Performing Arts Circuit and the Film Circuit. This makes for an overwhelming amount of events to entertain the public all the way through the night until 6am.

With lots of interesting events, I wanted to point out “Verde” by the fabulous Luzinterruptus. This was one of two installations that ran all night, this one including 1,000 street lamp posts covered by green living room shades that ran all through the center of Madrid. The soft green lighting transformed the atmosphere into a comfortable, warm and homey space.

The massive transformation from the typical vehicular buzz of the major city center streets to the intimate pedestrian ways encouraged people to stroll and enjoy the surrounding art and music. This installation just goes to show how lighting can make a dramatic difference in any space.

images via luzinterruptus