All White On The Night: JUE Fest's 24-Hour Bai Ye Explained

When people in Beijing talk about White Nights we get nostalgic about five kuai beers and when they served more mashed potatoes with their cheap Russian tucker but you cool kids will recognize White Nights as those 24-hour arts festivals, which began in St. Petersburg during their daylight-heavy summer solstice. This weekend JUE Festival is taking over Gulou for Beijing’s first ever Bai Ye (that’s White Night, but you knew that).

The multi-event madness takes place from 10pm on Friday (Mar 22) to 10pm Saturday (Mar 23) so you get a whole heap of fun if not a whole heap of sunlight.

Here’s JUE’s step-by-step guide:

• BUY A TICKET from 4 Corners or brandnü. Tickets are just RMB 60, and grant you access to EVERYTHING in Bai Ye over the 24 hours.
• COLLECT YOUR MAP AND TORCH between 8-10pm on Friday from the White Nights Russian restaurant on Dongzhimen Beixiaojie. You sign up for time-specific events and performances here too.
  If you have not bought your ticket by 8pm on Friday, you can come straight here to get one.
• LET LOOSE on the city. Be sure to join / follow the Bai Ye weibo (@北京白夜BeijingBaiYe) and instagram (beijingbaiye) feeds, which some events tap into in real time, and the Bai Ye website features a live feed of images in the lead-up to and during the event.
• DISCO DANCE for our Bai Ye finale event, with two simultaneous DJs (Silent Disco) beamed into wireless headphones, at 4 Corners from 8.30pm on Saturday night.

If this doesn’t seem enough fun for you then you can see the many events that make up Bai Ye on the JUE website. If you want to win a pair of tickets then answer this question: In which squares do the White Knights start in a game of chess?

Send your answer to win@thebeijinger.com with your name and telephone number. The first correct answer will win. Good luck.

Photo: partyflock.nl