La Noche en Blanco took place on Saturday night and it was really cool! I did a presentation on it for class, so I have some interesting facts about what it is. La Noche in Blanco means "White Night" and that the city does not sleep. There are over 200 different cultural activities open all night all around the city, and they're all free. Museums are open, there are outdoor concerts, marching bands, movie screenings, dancing, etc. It happens at the end of the summer, and this year it was on September 19, 2009. The tradition of La Noche in Blanco is fairly new in Madrid... this was only its fourth year. The concept originated in Paris in 2002. The goal was for the citizens to embrace contemporary creation and the culture of the city. The objectives are gratitude, vanguard, citizenship, and sustainability. 6 other European cities took up the initiative and the program became "The White Nights of Europe."
My roommates and I left around 10pm. The metro was insanely crowded!! The metro is open until 1:30am every night, but it was open until 3am that night to encourage people to stay out and enjoy the festivities. We went to el Palacio Real because we wanted to do the 'special tour of the royal kichen.' There were so many people out on the streets. It seemed similar to Times Square in New York on New Years' Eve, but not quite as crazy. The line for Palacio Real was very very long. We decided to wait it out though, for the experience. We ended up waiting over an hour and the kitchen wasn't as elaborate as we had hoped it would be. So it wasn't exactly worth it, but we still had fun.
Then I went to another area of Madrid with my friend Britanny called Banco de Espana. We just decided to walk around there and see what was going on. The streets in that area were packed! There was a huge movie screen with little cartoons teaching dance moves! A lot of people were actually following along with the moves and trying to dance.
We ended up watching some of an outdoor concert at Plaza de Bellas Artes, and this was my favorite part of the night. The band was really good! There were male singers and they played the accordian, guitar, bass, and drums. So many people were dancing and enjoying the music. I later found out that the band is called La Troba Kung Fu. They're from Barcelona and their music genre is called Rumba Catalonia. It's very different than the music I've listened to, but I really like it and am now a fan! I have a little video of a performance at the bottom.
We didn't stay out too late because we wanted to catch the Metro, but I kind of wish that I got to see more. There were just sooo many things to choose from! I had a great experience in La Noche en Blanco and am excited to experience more art and culture of Spain while I am here.
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