In 2001, when Bertrand Delanoë became mayor of Paris, his deputy, Christophe Girard, suggested the creation of a "Nuit Blanche", offering the opportunity on one night only for anyone to sample the art and culture of the city for free.
The concept has since spread rapidly around the world, with similar events now established in more than 120 cities, including several European capitals. Tonight, Ireland celebrates its 11th Culture Night, its own version of the event. As a concept, its strength lies in its simplicity; just pick a single night to open up every cultural institution for free to anyone who is interested. And the response from the public has been spectacular. Last year, 370,000 people attended.
This evening hundreds of thousands of people all over Ireland will again turn out to visit their local theatres, galleries, museums and libraries for Culture Night. There will be street performances, open-air concerts and the once-a-year public opening-up of a range of notable private buildings. The streets will be crowded and boisterous but, going by the evidence of previous years, there will be little or none of the drunkenness or disorder that sometimes characterises a weekend night in our towns and cities.
We should never forget that the whole thing is entirely reliant on the goodwill and enthusiasm of the thousands of people who give up their spare time to make it possible. As such, it’s not a model for the other 364 days of the year. But what Culture Night succeeds in doing is creating a sense of carnival, spectacle and celebration around culture in all its manifestations.
As such, it may be a useful springboard for considering not just the inherent value of culture, but how it can connect with new audiences who may, for a variety of reasons, feel it is not normally available or relevant to them.
And it also emphasises how cultural participation can play a vitally important role in making our urban spaces more attractive, more vibrant and more civilised. This year’s attendances may suffer a temporary blip due to the bus strike in Dublin, but the underlying idea can only continue to grow.