Culture and diversity flood the streets of El Salvador at the Nuit Blanche festival

By Carina López y Douglas Martínez

Over a hundred artistic and cultural activities flooded the streets of the Salvadoran capital this weekend during the Nuit Blanche (White Night) festival, which seeks to celebrate the diversity and cultural richness of the Central American country.

With more than 200 Salvadoran and French artists, the event is a concept taken from France with the idea of taking culture out of its physical spaces, such as museums, theaters, or other scenarios, to the streets.

At the inauguration of the meeting, the Minister of Culture of El Salvador, Mariemm Pleitez, said she was proud of the celebration of this festival in the historic center of San Salvador after the initiative of representatives of the Alliance Française and the Salvadoran government eight years ago.

In its fifth edition, dedicated to the environment and hence it bears the name this year of Nuit Blanche ECO, the meeting has taken over public spaces such as squares and streets to explore the city differently.

“Impressive how culture is taking over San Salvador because it is a space that used to be the most unsafe place in the whole country, and it is easy to say because now it is no longer,” said the mayor of San Salvador, Mario Durán, during his speech.

Now, continued the mayor, it is the epicenter, the beginning of one of the most beautiful cultural events of this year, because “we are making history, and for us, that is impressive”.

On this occasion, the ecological theme is part of the art displays to spread messages to incite action.

During the cultural adventure, attendees enjoyed the Alianzas Polifónicas de la Alianza Francesa choir, in collaboration with the National Dance Company, and a concert by the San Salvador Symphony Orchestra.

The Salvadoran population also had the opportunity to enjoy performing, visual, and audiovisual arts activities.

One of the attendees, Roberto Linares, considered the space important to present art, music, and unpublished creations.

“It is already the fourth time that I have participated in Nuit Blanche, and it is an event that I do not want to miss either as a musician or as an audience. We have joined because we believe that these spaces are super important to present art, not only music and the creations they make,” he concluded.

The Alliance Française organizes the event with the co-production of the Ministry of Culture of El Salvador, the Mayor’s Office of San Salvador, and the Ministry of Environment, among other entities.