History
The current all-night festivals trace their roots to several cities.
The first Long Night of Museums took place in the newly re-united Berlin in 1997 with a dozen participating institutions and exhibitions; since then the number has risen to 125 with over 150,000 people taking part in the January 2005 night.
It drew on a European heritage of all-night cultural events, such as the annual White Nights Festival, a long-standing cultural festival in St Petersburg.
The Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë took this idea in 2002 and spread it to culture more broadly, including performing arts, and under the banner of Nuit Blanche (White Nights, and various related names) the concept has spread around the world.
Read more about this topic: Long Night Of Museums
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“History ... is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
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