Nuit Blanche

This weekend our city celebrated Nuit Blance. The four of us had a late dinner and made our way out to the St. Boniface Museum for a haunted tour. The two story log structure is the oldest building in Winnipeg, circa 1840. It's past uses include an infirmary, elderly residence, orphanage and even sanatorium. The building was run by Nuns, and several of them were kept in a crypt in the basement after life, which eventually had to be dismantled due to spring flooding. Not too hard to imagine ghostly happenings, even if you aren't inclined to believe in an afterlife. Tis the season!

After the tour we walked over to the ruins of the St. Boniface Cathedral. There we took in an art installation, complete with images projected onto the stone walls and the sound of bells echoing into the night.

"Nuit Blanche (All-Nighter, literally White Night, in French) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for art installations, performances (music, film, dance, performance art), themed social gatherings, and other activities." source

There were so many creative events happening in the city this weekend for Nuit Blanche. I wish I could have seen them all. Next year we'll plan better. There was a bike tour of many of the installations which we would have liked to join in on. Hopefully the weather next year will be just as ideal for participating in such a great city event.

Does your city organize a Nuit Blanche? Have you taken part?