"White Nights" originated in the book of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1848, which portrays the natural phenomenon of white nights in Saint Petersburg, at the beginning of summer, when it hardly gets dark. The work presents the character called the Dreamer, who falls in love with the young Nástienka during one of these nights. The concept of Nuit Blanche emerged in Paris in 2002, on the initiative of the City Council, as a radical model of cultural policy: transforming the city during an entire night into a space of free and accessible contemporary creation for all, taking art outside institutions, occupying streets, squares and other public spaces.
The Parisian model was not limited to keeping museums open later, but consisted of commissioning and presenting contemporary art throughout the city. The success was enormous and quickly internationalized, with a European network of cities with White Nights being created in 2007. This model had important predecessors, such as Berlin's Lange Nacht der Museen, begun in 1997.
In Portugal, the first White Night was in Loulé, in 2007, promoted by the City Council as an urban event marking the farewell of the Algarve summer. However, Loulé adapted the concept originally: instead of being a Parisian "night in white," the city literally becomes white, with all participants dressed in that color. The White Night of Braga only appeared in 2012, integrated into the programming of Braga as European Capital of Youth, explicitly declaring Paris as its inspiration.
Currently there are nearly two dozen "White Nights" in Portugal, which consume a large part of municipal budgets for culture. The article critiques that these events have transformed into large entertainment festivities, turning historic centers into spaces of fun, and that they have little connection to the identity and heritage diversity of each place or to supporting contemporary creation. In Paris, the sale of alcoholic beverages in public spaces is totally prohibited, which the author considers an essential public health measure.
